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On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message resonated to many. It remains one of the organizations where one can locate reality-based and largely reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain Position Amid a Business Struggle

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two huge media conglomerates vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.

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

The Additional Element: The Former President

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

Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

There is a basis to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that venerable news network.

A Possibility of More Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be detrimental to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Issue and a Way Ahead

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

“Our current system is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.

Initiatives that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pawns in the latest merger game.