Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and largely reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious State During a Business Struggle
Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of business acquisition, not 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 governmental choices,” 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 more important point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Additional Factor: Political Influence
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of More Uncertainty
Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could position CNN for another sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.
“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change 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 accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent merger game.
