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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While it is by no means a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It is one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and largely reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State During a Corporate Struggle

But CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media empires compete for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has turned into a major game of mergers and acquisitions, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of governmental choices,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

A Further Layer: Political Influence

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

Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

Trump has reason to prefer that suitor 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, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.

An Outcome of More Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. This might be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu argued.

The Core Problem and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens in this situation, the underlying crisis remains.

“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the consolidation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the latest merger game.