This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where you can find grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during crises like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Business Tug-of-War
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.
The Additional Layer: Donald Trump
This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Instability
It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Core Issue and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
