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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Struggle

But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.

A Further Factor: The Former President

The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

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

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

There is a basis to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led 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 historic news network.

A Possibility of Further Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.

According to Timothy Wu, much 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.

“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.

The Bigger Problem and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the larger issue remains.

“Our current system is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the newest merger game.