On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.
While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement rang true to many. It is one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and mostly reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
An Uncertain Situation Amid a High-Stakes Struggle
However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.
“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer 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 – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.
“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The Complicating Factor: The Former President
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.
Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.
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 one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to prefer 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.
The company, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
A Possibility of More Turmoil
Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.
In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem persists.
“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.
Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.
Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be tools in the newest corporate chess match.
