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On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message rang true to many. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and largely reliable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War

Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

The Additional Layer: The Former President

This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.

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

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled 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 conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

An Outcome of More Uncertainty

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, 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 hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Problem and a Way Ahead

No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis endures.

“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the newest merger game.