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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find fact-based and largely reliable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State During a High-Stakes Battle

But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, 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.

“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

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

“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Layer: Political Influence

This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

There is a basis to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

A Possibility of More Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Problem and a Potential Solution

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.

“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.

Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent merger game.