The Power Struggle Over CNN Highlights How Flawed American Journalism Has Become.

This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement rang true to many. It is one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Battle

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

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

“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.

The Additional Element: Donald Trump

This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.

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

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

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, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.

A Possibility of Continued Instability

Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Problem and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem remains.

“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the latest merger game.