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Late Thursday, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While it is by no means a perfect news source, her statement seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find reality-based and generally dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State Amid a Business Tug-of-War

However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

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

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

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Factor: Donald Trump

This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now asserts 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 favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

There is a basis to like that suitor 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, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.

A Possibility of Continued Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.

The Core Problem and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue persists.

“What we have now is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new 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? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.

Policies that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN must not be pawns in the newest merger game.