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Late Thursday, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and generally dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Situation During a High-Stakes Struggle

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Layer: Political Influence

The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

He has grounds to prefer that bidder more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

A Possibility of More Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.

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

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

The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis persists.

“Our current system is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Initiatives that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be tools in the newest acquisition battle.