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This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled about a shooting at Brown University, the network'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 words rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation Amid a Business Struggle

However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.

“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

The Complicating Element: Donald Trump

The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

He has grounds to like that suitor 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, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

A Possibility of Continued Instability

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.

The Core Challenge and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue endures.

“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the most recent acquisition battle.