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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her statement rang true for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War

But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in 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 more important point.

“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Element: Donald Trump

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

Trump has reason to like that suitor 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.

A Future 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 welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. It never ends.

According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.

The Core Challenge and a Way Ahead

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.

“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – 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 top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.