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This past Thursday night, as rumors swirled regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true for numerous observers. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists grounded and largely reliable reporting – particularly during fast-moving events such as the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Position During a High-Stakes Tug-of-War

But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two giant media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of mergers and acquisitions, rather than as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with origins in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

The conjecture about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the public interest,” Pickard said.

The Additional Layer: Political Influence

The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his main “fake news” antagonist.

Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his clashes with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

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

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

A Future of Continued Uncertainty

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That arrangement could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

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

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

The Bigger Challenge and a Way Ahead

Regardless of the resolution with this particular battle, the bigger problem endures.

“Our current system is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Initiatives that support independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prohibit the consolidation of media power in very 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 like CNN must not be tools in the latest corporate chess match.