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Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate to many. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists reality-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during fast-moving events like the one unfolding close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Situation During a Corporate Struggle

But the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the destiny of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

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

The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.

“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

A Further Layer: The Former President

The network's predicament is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has long portrayed as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.

Recall the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

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

The company, owner of CBS News, also recently installed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the editor-in-chief of that storied news network.

A Possibility of More Instability

Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a independent unit. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could pave the way for 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 recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

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

The Fundamental Problem and a Path Forward

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the larger issue remains.

“What we have now is a profoundly system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this hyper-commercialized monster, and revised policy decisions can tackle it.

Is this likely in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is a distant prospect now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are vital for a robust democracy.

In the world of media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN cannot be tools in the newest corporate chess match.