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

Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during crises like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War

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

Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.

The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

“It gets presented as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Factor: Donald Trump

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.

Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

A Possibility of More Turmoil

Significantly, 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 hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

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

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.

The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.

“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.