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This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate reality-based and generally reliable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation Amid a Business Tug-of-War

Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state 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-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.

The Complicating Layer: The Former President

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate 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 favor that company more. For one thing, it is led 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, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.

An Outcome of Further Uncertainty

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, 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 secure position. That setup could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Challenge and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.

“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.

Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a robust democracy.

In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.