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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position During a Business Struggle

But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Additional Element: Donald Trump

This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.

Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

There is a basis to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump 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 top editor of that venerable news network.

A Possibility of More Instability

Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.

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

The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward

Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.

“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.