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On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position During a Business Struggle

However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

A Further Factor: Donald Trump

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

Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive 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. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason 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 run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

A Possibility of Further Uncertainty

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead

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

“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.