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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and generally reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position During a Business Struggle

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

Regardless of who wins, the future 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 deep structural problems with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

A Further Layer: Political Influence

The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

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

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.

A Future of More Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Core Issue and a Path Forward

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.

“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised 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? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.