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Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and largely dependable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable State Amid a Business Battle

However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has turned into a major game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Additional Layer: Political Influence

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

Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

There is a basis to prefer that company 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 installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.

A Possibility of More Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Issue and a Way Ahead

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the bigger problem endures.

“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will never happen.

Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

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