Late Thursday, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
He has grounds to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently 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 Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.
“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent merger game.
