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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.

“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

A Further Element: The Former President

The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.

Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

There is a basis to prefer that bidder 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, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of Further Instability

Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution

No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem endures.

“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

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