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

Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement resonated to many. It remains one of the organizations where there exists grounded and largely reliable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War

Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.

“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

A Further Layer: Donald Trump

The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.

Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

Trump has reason to like that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

A Future of More Uncertainty

It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.

According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.

The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the underlying crisis endures.

“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.

Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.