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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though it is by no means a impeccable news source, her words resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the outlets where there exists fact-based and generally reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position During a High-Stakes Struggle

Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious position 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 major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Layer: Political Influence

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.

Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. 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 suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

A Future of Further Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That structure could position CNN for another sale. It never ends.

If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

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

The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.

“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. 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 won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of 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 like CNN must not be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.