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Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a impeccable news source, her message rang true to many. It remains one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable State During a Corporate Battle

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain state as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, 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 policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.

“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

A Further Layer: The Former President

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

He has grounds to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of Further Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

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

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

The Core Issue and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the larger issue remains.

“Our current system is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.

Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.

Measures that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in too few 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 shouldn’t be tools in the newest corporate chess match.