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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Battle

But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.

The Additional Factor: Political Influence

The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

There is a basis to prefer that bidder 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.

An Outcome of Continued Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Fundamental Problem and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.

“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur 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 support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.