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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While it is by no means a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and generally reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation During a Business Struggle

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

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

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

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

A Further Element: The Former President

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

Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

There is a basis to favor that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.

A Future of More Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot 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.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.

The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.

“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN must not be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.