On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message resonated to many. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Vulnerable Position Amid a Business Struggle
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.
“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.
“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.
The Additional Layer: The Former President
The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.
Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.
He has grounds to favor 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.
An Outcome of Further Turmoil
Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.
The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead
Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.
“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.
Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the latest acquisition battle.
