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Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and largely reliable reporting – notably during crises such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Situation During a Corporate Battle

However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.

“It gets presented as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Layer: The Former President

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

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

He has grounds to prefer that suitor 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.

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.

A Future of Further Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit 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

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

“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.