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Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where one can locate reality-based and generally dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.

“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

The Complicating Layer: 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” foe.

Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

Trump has reason to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run 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, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.

A Possibility of Further Instability

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That setup could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Core Issue and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.

“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the newest acquisition battle.