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On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where there exists fact-based and generally dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Situation During a Business Battle

But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.

“It gets presented as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Element: The Former President

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

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

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

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

A Future of More Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.

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

“Both acquisition attempts would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu stated.

The Core Challenge and a Way Ahead

No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the underlying crisis persists.

“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can address it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the newest acquisition battle.