🔗 Share this article

On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during crises like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation During a Business Struggle

However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Factor: The Former President

This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.

Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to like that suitor 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, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.

An Outcome of More Uncertainty

Notably, 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 setup could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu stated.

The Core Problem and a Path Forward

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

“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

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

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN must not be tools in the newest corporate chess match.