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This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position During a Business Tug-of-War

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

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.

The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.

“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.

A Further Element: The Former President

The CNN scenario is further muddied 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 administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

Trump has reason to like 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 placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of More Uncertainty

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated 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 arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.

The Core Issue and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the larger issue remains.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – 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 head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.

Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.