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Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her statement resonated for numerous observers. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Situation During a Business Tug-of-War

However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.

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

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

A Further Layer: The Former President

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.

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

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

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

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

An Outcome of More Uncertainty

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, 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 not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Path Forward

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – dating back to 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 refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a robust democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent merger game.