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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where you can find grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State Amid a High-Stakes Struggle

Yet CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

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

The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.

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

The Complicating Factor: The Former President

This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.

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

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

There is a basis to prefer that suitor 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 right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

A Possibility of Further Instability

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

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

The Core Challenge and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue remains.

“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the newest merger game.