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On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It remains one of the organizations where you can find fact-based and generally dependable reporting – notably during crises like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Situation Amid a High-Stakes Struggle

Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

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

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.

“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

The Additional Layer: The Former President

The network's predicament is made more complex by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.

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

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

Trump has reason to favor that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of Further Instability

Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Challenge and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.

“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the newest merger game.