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On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message rang true to many. It stands as one of the outlets where there exists fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State Amid a Business Tug-of-War

But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.

“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

A Further Element: 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 chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

There is a basis to favor that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

A Possibility of Continued Instability

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

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

The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.

“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.

Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.

Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.