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On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While it is by no means a perfect news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Corporate Struggle

But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.

A Further Element: Political Influence

The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

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 tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate 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 aggressive takeover attempt.

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

The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.

An Outcome of Further Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. It never ends.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu argued.

The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.