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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where there exists grounded and generally dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position During a Business Battle

Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Factor: Political Influence

This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.

Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to favor 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 ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that storied news network.

A Possibility of Further Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.

According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Issue and a Potential Solution

No matter the outcome in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.

“What we have now is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are essential for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN must not be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.