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Late Thursday, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It is one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and generally dependable reporting – especially during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position Amid a High-Stakes Battle

But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media conglomerates compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump

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

Remember the shouts 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. 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 unsolicited offer.

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

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.

A Future of Further Instability

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.

According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Problem and a Potential Solution

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.

“The present media landscape is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

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

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.