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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement rang true to many. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and generally dependable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position During a High-Stakes Struggle

Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.

“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

The Additional Layer: The Former President

This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.

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

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

There is a basis to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is led 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 conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.

An Outcome of Further Instability

Significantly, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That setup could position CNN for a future sale. It never ends.

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

“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by regulators,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue remains.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the latest acquisition battle.