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Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the organizations where there exists grounded and mostly reliable reporting – especially during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War

However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.

The Complicating Element: The Former President

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

Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to favor 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 placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.

A Future of More Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome in this situation, the larger issue endures.

“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.

Initiatives that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be tools in the newest corporate chess match.