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

While it is by no means a perfect news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and largely dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State During a High-Stakes Battle

However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer 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? – overlooks a more important point.

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump

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

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

He has grounds to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.

A Future of Further Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.

According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead

No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.

“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – 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 head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.

Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest merger game.