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This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message rang true to many. It is one of the organizations where you can find grounded and largely dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable State Amid a Corporate Tug-of-War

But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media conglomerates compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

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

The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

The Complicating Layer: Donald Trump

The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.

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

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to prefer 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, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.

An Outcome of More Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.

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

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

The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the latest corporate chess match.