Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation During a Business Struggle
But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds 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.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.
The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.
