On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.
Even though CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true to many. It remains one of the outlets where you can find grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.
Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.
No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.
“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.
“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.
The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.
Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.
Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.
Trump has reason to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.
Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.
It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another sale. It never ends.
If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.
“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.
No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.
“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.
Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.
Policies that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.
Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent merger game.
Maya Chen is a tech journalist and lifestyle blogger with over a decade of experience covering digital trends and cultural shifts.
