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This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

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

An Uncertain Situation Amid a Corporate Battle

But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

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

The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.

“It is often framed as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

A Further Layer: Donald Trump

The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is a factor in why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

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

A Future of Continued Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

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

The Fundamental Issue and a Potential Solution

Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the underlying crisis remains.

“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the latest corporate chess match.