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On Thursday evening, while unconfirmed reports spread concerning the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a flawless news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It stands as one of the outlets where one can locate grounded and mostly trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one unfolding near a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious Position During a Business Struggle

Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a vulnerable state as two huge media empires battle over ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the destiny of CNN has become part of a high-risk game of business acquisition, instead of as a question of what helps the news-consuming public.

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

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

“It gets presented as a corporate drama with powerful individuals as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

A Further Layer: The Former President

This situation is complicated by Donald Trump’s opinions about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his main “fake news” foe.

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his team's disciplinary suspension of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in official meetings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. This can be interpreted as ownership that will insulate him from negative coverage and examination. That is one reason why he seems to come down on the side of Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

Trump has reason to like that bidder more. For one thing, it is run by David Ellison, son of the pro-Trump Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, owner of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, noted for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the lead editor of that venerable news network.

A Possibility of More Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix wins, 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 far from a safe harbor. That structure could pave the way for CNN for a future sale. It never ends.

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

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

The Bigger Problem and a Potential Solution

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.

“Our current system is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we must resist a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this overly commercial monster, and new policy decisions can address it.

Can reform occur in an era where the top communications regulator refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Change is highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will never happen.

Measures that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prevent the consolidation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are vital for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, size does not equal quality. And news organizations like CNN cannot be pieces in the newest corporate chess match.