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Late Thursday, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her words rang true to many. It stands as one of the organizations where you can find grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position Amid a Corporate Struggle

However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

The Complicating Layer: The Former President

The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

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

He has grounds to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that storied news network.

An Outcome of More Instability

Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. It never ends.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu stated.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue persists.

“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the most recent merger game.