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On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While it is by no means a flawless news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It is one of the organizations where there exists grounded and mostly dependable reporting – especially during crises like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State During a Corporate Tug-of-War

Yet CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” stated Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“It gets presented as a financial tale with influential figures as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Element: The Former President

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.

Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

Trump has reason to favor that company more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

A Possibility of More Uncertainty

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That setup could set up CNN for a future sale. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.

“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be contested by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis remains.

“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we must resist the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can address it.

Is this likely in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Overhaul is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.

Policies that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

In the world of media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.