This Tug-of-War Over CNN Highlights How Flawed US Journalism Truly Is.

Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words resonated to many. It is one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and largely dependable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War

Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of policy decisions,” stated 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 – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Layer: Political Influence

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

There is a basis to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.

A Possibility of Continued Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu stated.

The Core Problem and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.

“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.

Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent corporate chess match.