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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her statement rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation Amid a High-Stakes Struggle

But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

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

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.

“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

A Further Element: The Former President

This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.

Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

Trump has reason 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.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.

A Possibility of More Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should block both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.

The Fundamental Problem and a Path Forward

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue endures.

“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.

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

Policies that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN shouldn’t be tools in the latest merger game.