The Tug-of-War Over the Cable News Network Reveals The Extent to Which Flawed US Journalism Now Is.

This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during crises like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable State Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.

“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Element: The Former President

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.

Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of More Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu argued.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem persists.

“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be tools in the latest corporate chess match.