This week CNN announced a formal partnership with prediction market platform Kalshi to incorporate Kalshi’s real-time market data into CNN’s television, digital and social coverage. According to Axios, that data will be shown on air in a live ticker and used by journalists across CNN’s platforms when discussing predictions, including content related to politics, news, culture and weather. CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten is slated to use Kalshi’s insights in reporting for linear TV and the network’s streaming subscription service.
The day after CNN’s announcement, business news channel CNBC announced an exclusive partnership with Kalshi that will begin in 2026 and incorporate Kalshi predictions market data into its programs. The types of events these markets cover range from routine topics-election outcomes, local weather, federal jobs reports, and corporate earnings commentary-to more consequential matters such as humanitarian crises. That mix of entertainment-style odds and serious events has prompted concerns about how such information will be presented and used by viewers.
Some prediction markets have included questions tied to humanitarian conditions. One Kalshi market this past summer asked, «Will the IPC classify Gaza as experiencing famine this year?» that wager was settled affirmatively after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared famine in Gaza on Aug. 22, according to the IPC. Other platforms, such as Polymarket, have listed markets on related and highly sensitive topics, including wagers framed as «Gaza mass population relocation in 2025?» and markets asking whether Israel will strike Gaza, strike the West Bank, or annex West Bank territory.
News organizations cannot predict or control world events, but the way they report on those events can shape public perception and influence behavior, including financial markets and speculative activity.
That potential influence raises clear ethical questions. If a news outlet displays real-time betting odds for topics it covers, how will it prevent conflicts of interest or avoid incentivizing coverage geared toward driving wagers? Will staff and contributors be prohibited from participating in these markets, and will there be a formal separation between editorial functions and any commercial arrangements with market operators?
Neither CNN’s nor Kalshi’s public statements accompanying the partnership addressed those governance and ethics questions in detail. Observers have also noted that some major investors in prediction market platforms have other stakes tied to the regions and industries being wagered on: Kalshi’s significant backers include Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, which have investments in Israeli tech and defense sectors, Politico reported. Individual figures associated with those investors have made public statements in support of Israeli information and defense initiatives, according to CAIR, and at least one partner spoke about the role of AI in information warfare at a recent defense technology event in Tel Aviv, reported.
Analysts have raised questions about how prediction markets integrated into news coverage could be used in information operations or market influence. For example, Kalshi’s odds in early 2025 assigned a relatively low probability to a particular candidate’s victory in a mayoral race; if a major news outlet had prominently emphasized that market figure, it could have affected public perceptions of electability and campaign momentum, as similar dynamics have been observed with polling coverage. The introduction of market odds as a form of political signal may amplify those effects.
Commercial and political connections to prediction markets also complicate the picture. High-profile advisors and investors can draw attention to platforms: Kalshi named Donald Trump Jr. a «strategic advisor» earlier this year, the company announced. Such relationships add another layer of questions about insider access, credibility, and commercialization of predictive information.
Critics argue that turning social and political questions into tradable propositions risks commodifying conflict and suffering, enabling speculative behavior that benefits platform operators and financial backers more than affected populations. Kalshi’s co-founder Tarek Mansour has described a vision of turning differences of opinion into tradable assets, he told a panel at a markets conference. Similar processes have already commercialized other areas of life-sports and betting, aspects of education marketization, and even discussions of intimacy in some tech discourse have been identified as areas subject to financialization.
Observers ask whether the integration of betting markets into news presentation will itself become a driver of outcomes-where market movements influence coverage, which in turn influences markets-creating feedback loops that favor speculation over substantive reporting.
Supporters of prediction markets argue they provide liquidity and information aggregation. Critics counter that the markets are vulnerable to manipulation and insider influence, and that turning humanitarian crises and geopolitical events into betting questions risks trivializing serious issues and incentivizing rent-seeking behavior rather than public interest reporting. Reporting has also noted examples where mapping or content changes appeared linked to war-betting platforms, raising concerns about the gamification of conflict and the integrity of information, 404 Media reported.
Ultimately, the partnerships between major news outlets and prediction market companies have prompted debate about the role of journalism, the potential for conflicts of interest, and the effects on public discourse. Some worry the emphasis on real-time odds and engagement metrics may push coverage toward topics that generate speculation, while others see new data sources as potentially useful tools if accompanied by robust ethical safeguards. The balance between commercial innovation and journalistic responsibility remains an open question, particularly when coverage intersects with international crises and political conflicts that may align with broader geopolitical interests, as discussed by commentators.