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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Struggle

But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant 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-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

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

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.

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Layer: The Former President

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

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

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

A Possibility of More Uncertainty

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. It never ends.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead

No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem remains.

“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Measures that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest acquisition battle.