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

While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words rang true to many. It stands as one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and largely dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable State Amid a High-Stakes Struggle

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

Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

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

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

“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Additional Element: Donald Trump

The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect 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.

There is a basis to prefer that company 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.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.

A Possibility of Continued Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.

The Core Challenge and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.

“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

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

Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the latest acquisition battle.