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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where one can locate reality-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State Amid a Business Battle

However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Element: Political Influence

The CNN scenario is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.

Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

Trump has reason to prefer 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.

The company, owner 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 Further Uncertainty

Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That setup could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

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

“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Potential Solution

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

“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.

Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a functioning democracy.

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