This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation 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.
Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement resonated to many. It remains one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position During a Business Tug-of-War
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said 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 – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Additional Layer: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason 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 run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.