CNN Just Cracked Open Pandora’s Box That’s Worse Than Any Fake News Hoax

CNN has opened up a Pandora’s box that’s worse than any fake news hoax the outlet could ever possibly peddle.

On Tuesday, the network announced an “official partnership” with the online platform Kalshi, which allows users to wager on anything from a sports game to whether J.D. Vance will be the GOP nominee in 2028, to how much money Darth Vader’s lightsaber will fetch at auction. Kalshi is a “prediction market,” and users are trading “contracts” on future events. So, somehow, it is legally distinct from gambling.

“As part of the partnership, CNN will get access to Kalshi’s data through an API, or backend interface, that automatically updates in real time,” Axios reported. “That data will be featured on CNN’s air through a real-time data ticker and can be referenced across CNN’s platforms when journalists discuss news predictions.”

Of course, neither CNN nor Kalshi has addressed the ethics elephant in the newsroom, as of publication. CNN anchors, reporters, and commentators do not determine events throughout the country and world. But they certainly influence them, enough to move markets. For example, if CNN published a story that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had a terminal illness, but that story later turned out to be false, Nvidia’s stock would have likely plummeted regardless, and billions of dollars could have been wiped out in a matter of minutes.

How will this power affect their coverage now that they are partnered with a betting platform? CNN will likely get a cut of the Kalshi gambling revenue, so how will that affect which events they choose to cover? Will the popularity of bets on Kalshi’s platform drive their coverage? Are they going to do segments on Darth Vader’s lightsaber because it drives the most wagering? Will all these CNN employees, from the executives to the bookers, be barred from betting on people or events they cover in the news? Where are the guardrails? What if anonymous sources, whether in government or working for a sports franchise, leak them stories to drive betting markets in a certain direction? (Read more from “CNN Just Cracked Open Pandora’s Box That’s Worse Than Any Fake News Hoax” HERE)