Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her statement resonated to many. It is one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during crises like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Situation Amid a Business Struggle
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump
This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Possibility of More Instability
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.
