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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While it is by no means a perfect news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State During a Corporate Tug-of-War

However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.

A Further Factor: Donald Trump

The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.

Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

A Possibility of Continued Instability

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.

“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.