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Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her statement seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate grounded and largely reliable reporting – especially during crises like the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable State Amid a Business Tug-of-War

However the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious position as two huge media corporations vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with key players as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Element: The Former President

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

Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration’s punitive suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he appears to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to like that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled 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 conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.

An Outcome of More Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. It never ends.

According to 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 prohibit both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by regulators,” Wu stated.

The Bigger Issue and a Potential Solution

No matter the outcome regarding CNN, the underlying crisis persists.

“Our current system is a very anti-democratic system, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Will that happen in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pieces in the most recent merger game.