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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her message resonated to many. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and generally dependable reporting – notably during crises like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position During a Business Tug-of-War

However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

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

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

“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.

The Complicating Factor: Political Influence

The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to favor that company more. For one thing, it is run 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 right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.

A Possibility of Further Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Fundamental Challenge and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.

“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Policies that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent merger game.