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Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where there exists grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during crises such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position Amid a Corporate Battle

However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.

“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Additional Element: The Former President

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

Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

He has grounds to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is led 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 appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.

A Possibility of Further Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. It never ends.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu argued.

The Core Challenge and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem endures.

“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

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

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be tools in the newest corporate chess match.