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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though it is by no means a perfect news source, her words resonated to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position Amid a High-Stakes Battle

Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of 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 profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

The Complicating Factor: Political Influence

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.

Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is controlled 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, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

A Possibility of Continued Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

If you ask 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 block both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Challenge and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome in this situation, the bigger problem persists.

“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.