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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her statement seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and largely dependable reporting – notably during crises such as the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position Amid a Business Struggle

But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.

“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

The Additional Factor: Political Influence

This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” adversary.

Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the ally of Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of Further Uncertainty

It is important to note, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should prohibit both deals.

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

The Core Issue and a Potential Solution

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

“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.

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