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Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her message resonated to many. It remains one of the organizations where you can find grounded and mostly dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation During a Corporate Struggle

But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, not 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,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“It is often framed as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard added.

The Complicating Factor: Donald Trump

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

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

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

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

An Outcome of More Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu stated.

The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens in this situation, the larger issue remains.

“Our current system is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and new 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? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.

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

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