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On Thursday evening, as rumors swirled concerning an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While it is by no means a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists fact-based and mostly reliable reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State Amid a High-Stakes Battle

Yet CNN, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two massive media corporations vie for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the future of CNN has been drawn into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of governmental choices,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Penn.

The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.

“It is often framed as a corporate drama with influential figures as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the public interest,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Element: The Former President

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

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

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is part of why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

He has grounds to like that company 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, parent of CBS News, also recently installed the conservative Bari Weiss, famous for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that venerable news network.

A Possibility of More Turmoil

It is important to note, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s hardly a guarantee of stability. That arrangement could set up CNN for yet another acquisition. It never ends.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance stated that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

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

The Bigger Challenge and a Path Forward

Whatever happens with this particular battle, the bigger problem persists.

“Our current system is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist learned helplessness,” Pickard said. Government actions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm 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, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the concentration of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a functioning democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent merger game.