Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
A Precarious Position During a Business Battle
Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.
Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.
“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.
A Further Factor: Political Influence
The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.
Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.
Trump has reason to favor that company more. For one thing, it is led 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 right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.
An Outcome of Continued Instability
Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future 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 disallow both deals.
“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu argued.
The Core Problem and a Potential Solution
Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.
“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.
Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.
Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.
In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the latest corporate chess match.
