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

Although CNN is certainly not a impeccable news source, her message resonated for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and largely reliable reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable State During a Business Struggle

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

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with origins in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The conjecture about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a larger point.

“It gets presented as a business story with influential figures as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Element: Political Influence

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

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

He has grounds to like 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.

The company, parent of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.

An Outcome of Further Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another sale. It never ends.

According to Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem remains.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.

Policies that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are vital for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the most recent corporate chess match.