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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement resonated to many. It remains one of the organizations where you can find grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Situation During a Business Battle

Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media empires vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

A Further Element: Donald Trump

The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is led 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.

A Possibility of Further Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution

No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.

“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.