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On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It remains one of the organizations where you can find grounded and mostly dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Situation During a Corporate Tug-of-War

But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media conglomerates compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps 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 media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.

“It is often framed as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Factor: Political Influence

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

Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

He has grounds to like 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of Further Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.

The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.

“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

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