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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the broadcasters where there exists grounded and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during crises such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State During a Business Tug-of-War

However CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-stakes game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

“The narrative is crafted as a business story with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Additional Layer: The Former President

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.

Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted 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 hostile bid.

There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the ally of 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 storied news network.

A Possibility of More Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. It never ends.

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

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

The Core Issue and a Path Forward

Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.

“Our current system is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pieces in the most recent merger game.