🔗 Share this article

Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement resonated for numerous observers. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position Amid a High-Stakes Struggle

But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Factor: Political Influence

This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges 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 one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

Trump has reason to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

An Outcome of More Instability

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Challenge and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.

“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent corporate chess match.