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On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and pointing viewers to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a flawless news source, her statement seemed accurate for numerous observers. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and generally reliable reporting – notably during breaking news situations like the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State During a Business Tug-of-War

Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what serves the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.

“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

The Additional Factor: Donald Trump

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

Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

There is a basis to like that company 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 appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that historic news network.

An Outcome of Continued Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Core Problem and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the larger issue remains.

“The present media landscape is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Policies that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are achievable – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the newest merger game.