Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and largely dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position During a High-Stakes Battle
However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Element: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner 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.
A Possibility of Continued Instability
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem persists.
“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.
Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.
