The Power Struggle Over the Cable News Network Highlights The Extent to Which Broken US Journalism Now Is.

On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While it is by no means a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and largely dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable State Amid a Corporate Struggle

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

A Further Element: The Former President

This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.

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

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

A Future of Continued Instability

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Bigger Issue and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue remains.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.