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On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though it is by no means a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and generally dependable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation Amid a High-Stakes Struggle

However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

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

“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

A Further Element: Donald Trump

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

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.

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

He has grounds to favor that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.

A Future of Further Uncertainty

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.

The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.

“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

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