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Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words resonated for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where one can locate fact-based and mostly dependable reporting – especially during crises such as the one taking place in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State Amid a Business Struggle

But CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a vulnerable position as two huge media empires compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the future of CNN has turned into a major game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with origins in many years of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, writer of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a professor of media policy at the Penn.

The speculation about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – misses a more important point.

“The narrative is crafted as a corporate drama with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is very little discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

A Further Element: Donald Trump

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

Recall the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at his rallies, his administration's retaliatory revocation of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now asserts that the network requires new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will shield him from journalistic oversight. That is a factor in why he seems to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to favor that suitor more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

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

A Future of More Uncertainty

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a independent unit. Such a move could be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a secure position. That setup could set up CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should block both deals.

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

The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.

“Our current system is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this overly commercial monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is very unlikely now, but that should not imply it will be impossible forever.

Measures that support independent news organizations, aid local journalism, fund public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in very few hands are within reach – they are essential for a robust democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pawns in the latest acquisition battle.