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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and largely dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War

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

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of business acquisition, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Element: Political Influence

The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

He has grounds to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is led 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 placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

An Outcome of Further Uncertainty

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu argued.

The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue endures.

“What we have now is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.

Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the most recent corporate chess match.