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Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, pointing out the conflicting information and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Even though the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message resonated to many. It stands as one of the organizations where there exists grounded and generally trustworthy reporting – particularly during crises such as the one developing near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position During a High-Stakes Struggle

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

Regardless of who wins, the future of CNN has become part of a major game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Penn.

The speculation about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a broader point.

“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

A Further Factor: Donald Trump

This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his chief “fake news” foe.

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

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will insulate him from criticism and scrutiny. 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 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.

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

An Outcome of Further Turmoil

Notably, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a safe harbor. That structure could position CNN for yet another acquisition. The cycle continues.

In the view of Timothy Wu, a great deal of this is against the law, anyway. The influential voice of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should disallow both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Issue and a Path Forward

No matter the outcome in this situation, the larger issue endures.

“Our current system is a profoundly structure that undermines democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to the belief that change is impossible,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can tackle it.

Will that happen in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and prevent the accumulation of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a healthy democracy.

In the world of media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the most recent acquisition battle.