On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position Amid a High-Stakes Struggle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
A Further Layer: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance 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 punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts 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 appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
Trump has reason to favor that company more. For one thing, it is run 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.
“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.
