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Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a perfect news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and mostly reliable reporting – notably during crises like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State Amid a High-Stakes Battle

However the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two giant media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, 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,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

The debate 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 key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Element: Political Influence

This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

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

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that 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 aggressive takeover attempt.

He has grounds to like that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.

A Possibility of Continued Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That setup could position 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 prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be detrimental to the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu argued.

The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens with this particular battle, the underlying crisis endures.

“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Initiatives that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent merger game.