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

Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the outlets where there exists reality-based and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position Amid a High-Stakes Struggle

However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

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

The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.

“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.

The Complicating Factor: The Former President

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.

Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

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

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.

An Outcome of Continued Instability

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

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

The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.

“What we have now is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Policies that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.