🔗 Share this article

Late Thursday, as rumors swirled concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It is one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during crises such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War

However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

A Further Factor: Donald Trump

The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

He has grounds to favor that bidder 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.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

A Future of Continued Uncertainty

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, 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 hardly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.

“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu argued.

The Core Problem and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.

“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.