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This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Situation During a Corporate Struggle

However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.

“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.

The Additional Factor: Donald Trump

This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.

Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

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

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.

A Future of Continued Instability

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

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

“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.

The Fundamental Problem and a Path Forward

Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis endures.

“Our current system is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized 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? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Measures that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN must not be pawns in the latest merger game.