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Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where one can locate grounded and generally dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position During a Business Battle

However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.

“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump

The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

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

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

He has grounds to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

A Possibility of Further Instability

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should block both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Issue and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.

“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN must not be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.