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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message resonated to many. It is one of the outlets where there exists grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position Amid a High-Stakes Tug-of-War

But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain position as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

“It is often framed as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

The Complicating Element: Political Influence

The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.

Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

He has grounds to prefer that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.

A Future of Continued Instability

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the larger issue persists.

“What we have now is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the newest acquisition battle.