This Tug-of-War For the Cable News Network Shows The Extent to Which Dysfunctional American Journalism Truly Is.

On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable State During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War

Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

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

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

The Complicating Element: Donald Trump

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

Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

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

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

A Possibility of Continued Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. It never ends.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated 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 Challenge and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.

“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.

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