This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable State Amid a Corporate Struggle
But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking 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 academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
The Complicating Layer: The Former President
The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to favor that company 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.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the newest corporate chess match.
