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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where one can locate grounded and generally reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position Amid a Corporate Struggle

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

A Further Element: The Former President

The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

Trump has reason 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of More Instability

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. It never ends.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.

The Core Problem and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome in this situation, the larger issue remains.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Policies that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.