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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and mostly reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position Amid a Corporate Battle

But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

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

The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

A Further Element: The Former President

This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.

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

Trump now says 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 favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

Trump has reason to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of More Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Problem and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.

“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.