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On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and generally dependable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State During a Corporate Struggle

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

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Additional Factor: The Former President

The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

There is a basis to like that company 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 right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

A Future of Further Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. It never ends.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution

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

“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.

Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the latest merger game.