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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words rang true to many. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and largely dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State Amid a Business Tug-of-War

Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

A Further Factor: The Former President

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

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

Trump has reason to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

A Possibility of More Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.

According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.

The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem endures.

“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.