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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Business Tug-of-War

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

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.

“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

A Further Layer: The Former President

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.

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

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

Trump has reason to prefer that bidder 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, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. It never ends.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.

“What we have now is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.