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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the organizations where you can find reality-based and largely dependable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position During a Business Battle

But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain position as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of governmental choices,” said 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 – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.

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

The Complicating Element: Political Influence

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

Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now claims that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to favor that suitor 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 appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of More Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.

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 anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead

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

“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.

Policies that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the newest merger game.