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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words resonated to many. It remains one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Situation During a Business Battle

However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two huge media corporations compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a larger point.

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

The Additional Factor: Donald Trump

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” adversary.

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

There is a basis to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

A Future of More Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance stated that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.

The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens in this situation, the bigger problem persists.

“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the latest acquisition battle.