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On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It remains one of the broadcasters where you can find grounded and largely dependable reporting – notably during fast-moving events like the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Situation Amid a Business Struggle

But the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, instead of as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with origins in many years of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.

The debate about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a larger point.

“It gets presented as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard added.

A Further Layer: Political Influence

The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Think back to the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from journalistic oversight. That is part of why he appears to favor 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.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the conservative Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

An Outcome of Continued Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a standalone company. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That setup could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be opposed by anti-trust authorities,” Wu argued.

The Core Challenge and a Path Forward

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

“Our current system is a highly system hostile to democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this profit-obsessed monster, and new policy decisions can tackle it.

Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will be impossible forever.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.