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Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement resonated to many. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and generally reliable reporting – notably during crises such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position During a Business Struggle

But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious position as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Element: Political Influence

This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that 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 aggressive takeover attempt.

He has grounds to like 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.

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.

A Possibility of Further Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.

“Our current system is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Policies 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 necessary for a robust democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the latest corporate chess match.