This Corporate Battle For CNN Highlights The Extent to Which Flawed American Journalism Truly Is.

Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her message rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and largely dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position During a Business Battle

Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.

“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.

A Further Layer: Donald Trump

The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.

Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

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

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.

A Future of Further Instability

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.

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

“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Bigger Issue and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.

“What we have now is a very anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few 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 pieces in the latest corporate chess match.