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Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, noting the confusion and pointing viewers to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While the network is hardly a impeccable news source, her message seemed accurate for numerous observers. It remains one of the outlets where you can find grounded and largely trustworthy reporting – notably during fast-moving events such as the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State Amid a Business Tug-of-War

Yet the news network, now middle-aged, finds itself in a uncertain state as two massive media empires vie for ownership of its corporate owner, Warner Bros Discovery.

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

“Here is one more case of the deep structural problems with roots in decades of policy decisions,” stated Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The conjecture about the future owner of Warner Bros Discovery – is it going to be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – overlooks a broader point.

“It gets presented as a business story with powerful individuals as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.

A Further Element: Political Influence

This situation is further muddied by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” foe.

Recall the chants 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 official meetings.

Trump now claims that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as 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 favor that company more. For one thing, it is led by David Ellison, son of the Trump-friendly Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people.

Paramount, parent of CBS News, also recently appointed the right-leaning Bari Weiss, known for her “anti-woke” beliefs, as the top editor of that historic news network.

A Future of More Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix wins, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That structure could position CNN for a future sale. There is no finish line.

According to Timothy Wu, much of this is a violation of antitrust statutes, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance wrote recently that competition laws should disallow both deals.

“Each proposed deal would be bad for the country, and both should be opposed by regulators,” Wu argued.

The Fundamental Challenge and a Path Forward

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

“The present media landscape is a profoundly anti-democratic system, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Policy decisions – originating in the 1930s and 1940s – helped to build this hyper-commercialized 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? Change is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

Initiatives that bolster independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, subsidize public media, and prohibit the concentration of media power in too few hands are within reach – they are necessary for a functioning democracy.

Regarding media ownership, bigger isn’t better. And news organizations such as CNN cannot be tools in the most recent corporate chess match.