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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her statement resonated to many. It is one of the broadcasters where there exists fact-based and largely dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position During a Corporate Struggle

But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media conglomerates compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

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

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

The Complicating Element: The Former President

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.

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

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

He has grounds to like that suitor 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, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

A Future of Further Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could pave the way for CNN for another sale. It never ends.

If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.