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Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though it is by no means a perfect news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position During a Business Tug-of-War

Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, 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 been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.

“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

A Further Factor: Political Influence

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

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s 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 CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

Trump has reason to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

An Outcome of Further Instability

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

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

The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.

“Our current system is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.

Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN must not be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.