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Late Thursday, as rumors swirled about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It is one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and generally dependable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation During a Corporate Struggle

But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable situation as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.

“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.

The Complicating Layer: The Former President

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

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

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to favor that bidder more. For one thing, it is run 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 conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.

An Outcome of More Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.

“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.