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Late Thursday, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her words resonated to many. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation Amid a Business Struggle

However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the deep structural problems with origins in decades of policy decisions,” stated 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 – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Additional Element: Donald Trump

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

He has grounds to prefer that bidder 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, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.

An Outcome of More Instability

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

If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Fundamental Challenge and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue remains.

“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will never happen.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pawns in the latest merger game.