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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and generally dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War

Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media corporations 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 corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.

The Additional Element: Donald Trump

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to like that bidder 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, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.

An Outcome of Continued Instability

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu argued.

The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.

“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the latest merger game.