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On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message resonated for numerous observers. It stands as one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and generally trustworthy reporting – especially during crises such as the one developing in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State Amid a High-Stakes Struggle

Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, instead of 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 governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a broader point.

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Factor: The Former President

The network's predicament is complicated by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.

Remember the chants of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now says 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 support Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

There is a basis to like that company more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

A Possibility of More Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix wins, 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 secure position. That structure could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be contested by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Core Problem and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens with this particular battle, the underlying crisis endures.

“The present media landscape is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.

Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair will not confirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen in the future.

Policies that bolster independent news organizations, aid local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the concentration of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations such as CNN shouldn’t be pawns in the newest acquisition battle.