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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and generally trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.

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

However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of business acquisition, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

The Additional Layer: Donald Trump

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

Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

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

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

A Possibility of More Uncertainty

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, 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 far from a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.

According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.

The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.

“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.

Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.