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Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her message rang true for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists fact-based and generally dependable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State Amid a Corporate Struggle

But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

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

“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.

A Further Element: Political Influence

The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.

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

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

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

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

A Possibility of More Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could position CNN for a future sale. It never ends.

If you ask 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 detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.

The Core Problem and a Way Ahead

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.

“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will never happen.

Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the newest merger game.