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On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins took to social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a flawless news source, her statement seemed accurate to many. It is one of the organizations where one can locate fact-based and largely trustworthy reporting – particularly during breaking news situations such as the one taking place close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Precarious State Amid a Business Tug-of-War

Yet the news network, now four and a half decades old, finds itself in a precarious situation as two giant media corporations battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

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

“This represents another instance of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

The debate about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – will it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a more important point.

“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the main characters, but there is hardly any discussion of the societal benefit,” Pickard said.

The Additional Factor: Donald Trump

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

Remember the cries of “CNN sucks!” at the president’s rallies, his administration's retaliatory 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 shield him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a hostile bid.

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

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

An Outcome of Continued Uncertainty

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. This might be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That structure could pave the way for CNN for yet another acquisition. There is no finish line.

If you ask Timothy Wu, much of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Either merger would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by anti-trust authorities,” Wu recently wrote.

The Bigger Challenge and a Potential Solution

Regardless of the resolution in this situation, the bigger problem endures.

“What we have now is a very system hostile to democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard said. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and new 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 highly improbable now, but that should not imply it will not happen in the future.

Policies that bolster independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are not only possible – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the most recent acquisition battle.