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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though 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 – especially during breaking news situations such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Situation During a Business Struggle

Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.

“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

A Further Layer: The Former President

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.

An Outcome of More Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

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

The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue remains.

“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can tackle 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 doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.

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

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.