Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and mostly dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain State Amid a Business Battle
But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.
A Further Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.
Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to favor that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of Continued Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Issue and a Way Ahead
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the latest merger game.
