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Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message rang true to many. It is one of the organizations where one can locate grounded and mostly dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position During a High-Stakes Struggle

However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump

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

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate 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.

He has grounds to like 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, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

A Possibility of More Instability

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu stated.

The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution

No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.