Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Position Amid a Business Battle
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.
The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.
“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.
A Further Layer: Donald Trump
The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
There is a basis to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Uncertainty
It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might 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 another sale. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu argued.
The Core Problem and a Path Forward
No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pawns in the latest merger game.
