Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.
While it is by no means a flawless news source, her message resonated to many. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and generally reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Situation During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War
However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.
Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
He has grounds to prefer 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, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
In the view of Timothy Wu, much 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 contested by regulators,” Wu stated.
The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution
Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.
“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.
When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the newest acquisition battle.
