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

While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message resonated to many. It remains one of the organizations where you can find grounded and largely dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position Amid a Corporate Struggle

However the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

The Complicating Element: Political Influence

The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.

Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

There is a basis to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is run 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 placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.

A Future of Further Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for another sale. It never ends.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.

“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the latest merger game.