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Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable State Amid a Corporate Struggle

Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Element: Political Influence

This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.

Think back to the shouts 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 press briefings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

There is a basis to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is run 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 right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.

A Future of Further Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.

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 competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Problem and a Path Forward

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.

“Our current system is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Policies that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be tools in the newest corporate chess match.