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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words resonated to many. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and generally dependable reporting – especially during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position Amid a High-Stakes Struggle

But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.

A Further Factor: Donald Trump

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

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

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

There is a basis to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of More Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, 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 secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.

The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.

“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.

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

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN must not be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.