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Late Thursday, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and largely dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable State Amid a Business Tug-of-War

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

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming 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 conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

A Further Factor: Political Influence

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

He has grounds to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run 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 placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.

An Outcome of Continued Instability

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief 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 lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Core Issue and a Path Forward

Whatever happens with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.

“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.

Initiatives that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest acquisition battle.