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On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, the network'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 message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and largely dependable reporting – especially during crises like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position Amid a High-Stakes Struggle

Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

A Further Factor: The Former President

This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.

Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.

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

He has grounds to prefer 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, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of Further Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.

The Bigger Issue and a Path Forward

Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue persists.

“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the newest merger game.