🔗 Share this article

On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though it is by no means a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and largely reliable reporting – notably during crises such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War

However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

A Further Factor: The Former President

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

Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now says 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 a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

There is a basis to favor that suitor 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.

The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.

An Outcome of Further Instability

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, much 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.

“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Problem and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.

“Our current system is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.