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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words rang true for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and generally reliable reporting – particularly during crises like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position During a Business Struggle

However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.

The Complicating Element: Donald Trump

This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.

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 clashes with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to favor that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

A Possibility of More Instability

It is important to note, 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 not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Bigger Issue and a Path Forward

Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem persists.

“Our current system is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.