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This past Thursday night, amid swirling speculation concerning 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 the network is hardly a flawless news source, her words seemed accurate for numerous observers. It is one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and mostly trustworthy reporting – especially during breaking news situations like the one taking place near a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State Amid a High-Stakes Struggle

Yet the news network, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media conglomerates vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the destiny of CNN has turned into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, not as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of governmental choices,” 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 broader point.

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the main characters, but there is scant discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard explained.

The Additional Element: Political Influence

This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Think back to the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration’s punitive withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now says that the network requires new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

There is a basis to prefer that suitor 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.

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

A Future of More Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be spun off into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a guarantee of stability. That setup could position CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, a lot of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst 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 anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Fundamental Problem and a Way Ahead

No matter the outcome with this particular battle, the larger issue endures.

“What we have now is a highly structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard emphasized. Policy decisions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this overly commercial monster, and revised policy decisions can fix it.

Is this likely in an era where the top communications regulator won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Change is very unlikely now, but that is not to say it will not happen in the future.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, aid local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are achievable – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

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