The Power Struggle Over CNN Highlights How Dysfunctional US Media Truly Is.

Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Situation Amid a Business Battle

But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

The Complicating Layer: The Former President

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal 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 protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is led 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 lead editor of that storied news network.

A Future of Further Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, 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 not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

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

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

The Core Problem and a Way Ahead

No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.

“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the newest merger game.