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On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message rang true to many. It stands as one of the outlets where there exists grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Situation During a High-Stakes Struggle

Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious position as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

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

The Additional Layer: The Former President

The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

There is a basis to prefer 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 conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.

A Future of More Uncertainty

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. It never ends.

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 competition laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.

“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.

Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the newest merger game.