On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Additional Factor: Donald Trump
The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.
A Future of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.
According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst 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 opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.
The Core Issue and a Potential Solution
No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.
“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.
Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest merger game.
