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On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position During a Business Tug-of-War

Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.

“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

The Additional Element: Donald Trump

This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.

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

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

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

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.

An Outcome of More Instability

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, 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 not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could set up CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.

If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.

The Core Problem and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue persists.

“The present media landscape is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

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

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest corporate chess match.