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Late Thursday, as rumors swirled regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and largely reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position Amid a High-Stakes Battle

Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media conglomerates vie 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 mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.

“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

The Additional Layer: The Former President

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.

Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

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

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.

An Outcome of Continued Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix is successful, 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 hardly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu stated.

The Fundamental Issue and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.

“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.