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This past Thursday night, while unconfirmed reports spread about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement rang true 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 taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation During a Business Struggle

But the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious state as two huge media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has turned into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.

“It is often framed as a financial tale with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

A Further Element: Political Influence

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

Recall the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

There is a basis 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, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that historic news network.

An Outcome of More Instability

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a standalone company. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a safe harbor. That structure could set up CNN for another sale. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

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

The Core Issue and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens with this particular battle, the larger issue persists.

“The present media landscape is a very anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Regulatory choices – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.

Will that happen in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are vital for a healthy democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.