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On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement resonated to many. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position During a High-Stakes Struggle

Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

A Further Element: Political Influence

This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes 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 a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

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

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

A Possibility of More Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, 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 secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest corporate chess match.