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On Thursday evening, amid swirling speculation about a shooting at Brown University, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins used social media, pointing out the conflicting information and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

Although it is by no means a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate to many. It remains one of the outlets where you can find reality-based and mostly reliable reporting – particularly during crises like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

A Vulnerable Situation Amid a Business Tug-of-War

However CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a precarious state as two massive media corporations compete for ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Whatever the outcome, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a major game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what benefits the news-consuming public.

“This is yet another example of the fundamental flaws with roots in decades of regulatory actions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a media policy professor at the Pennsylvania University.

The debate about who will own Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with influential figures as the protagonists, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard said.

The Complicating Factor: Political Influence

The CNN scenario is further muddied by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his primary “fake news” adversary.

Think back to the chants of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his team's disciplinary withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his tense exchanges with Collins in press briefings.

Trump now asserts that CNN needs new ownership. Many see this as a desire for ownership that will protect him from negative coverage and examination. That is a factor in why he seems to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

There is a basis to prefer that suitor more. For one thing, it is controlled by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

The company, owner of CBS News, also recently placed the conservative Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

A Possibility of Continued Instability

Notably, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a standalone company. Such a move could be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement 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 wrote recently that anti-trust laws should prohibit both deals.

“Either merger would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by the government,” Wu stated.

The Bigger Problem and a Way Ahead

Whatever happens regarding CNN, the underlying crisis endures.

“The present media landscape is a highly anti-democratic system, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to create this profit-obsessed monster, and different policy decisions can address it.

Can reform occur in an era where the head of the FCC refuses to acknowledge that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, subsidize public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in a handful of hands are within reach – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations like CNN must not be tools in the latest merger game.