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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State Amid a Business Struggle

However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said 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 – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Element: Political Influence

The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

There is a basis to favor that suitor 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 installed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

A Possibility of Further Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.

The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.

“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

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

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest corporate chess match.