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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though it is by no means a impeccable news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – particularly during crises such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Business Tug-of-War

But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

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

“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

The Additional Factor: The Former President

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

Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary 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 part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

He has grounds to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

A Possibility of Continued Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.

The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.

“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest corporate chess match.