This Tug-of-War Over the Cable News Network Reveals The Extent to Which Flawed US Media Has Become.

This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and largely reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Situation During a Corporate Battle

But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.

The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.

“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

The Additional Factor: The Former President

The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

He has grounds to like 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, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

A Future of Further Turmoil

It is important to note, 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 hardly a guarantee of stability. That setup could position CNN for another sale. It never ends.

According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

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

The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.

“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a robust democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the newest merger game.