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Late Thursday, while unconfirmed reports spread regarding the Brown University gunman, the network's Kaitlan Collins took to social media, highlighting the uncertainty and guiding the public to her channel's 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her words rang true to many. It stands as one of the broadcasters where one can locate fact-based and largely reliable reporting – particularly during crises like the one unfolding in the vicinity of a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State Amid a High-Stakes Battle

But CNN, now 45 years old, finds itself in a uncertain situation as two massive media empires battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

Regardless of who wins, the fate of CNN has been drawn into a high-risk game of corporate ownership, rather than as a question of what helps the information-seeking public.

“This represents another instance of the profound systemic issues with roots in many years of regulatory actions,” noted Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

The speculation about which company will control Warner Bros Discovery – could it be Netflix or Paramount Skydance? – fails to grasp a more important point.

“It is often framed as a business story with key players as the central actors, but there is very little discussion of the common good,” Pickard explained.

The Complicating Layer: Political Influence

The CNN scenario is complicated by Donald Trump’s longstanding stance about a network he has consistently labeled as perhaps his primary “fake news” antagonist.

Remember the shouts of “CNN sucks!” at Trump's rallies, his administration's retaliatory withdrawal of reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials, or his sparring with Collins in White House briefings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from criticism and scrutiny. That is one reason why he appears to favor Paramount Skydance, which has made a aggressive takeover attempt.

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

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

A Future of Continued Instability

It is important to note, if Netflix prevails, CNN and other cable outlets would first be carved out into a separate entity. That would be a welcome development to many at the network, but it’s far from a secure position. That arrangement could position CNN for another sale. It never ends.

In the view of Timothy Wu, much of this is illegal, anyway. The well-known analyst of big tech’s dominance recently argued that competition laws should disallow both deals.

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

The Core Challenge and a Potential Solution

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

“The present media landscape is a very structure that undermines democracy, but we ought not succumb to a sense of powerlessness,” Pickard noted. Regulatory choices – dating back to the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster this hyper-commercialized monster, and different policy decisions can fix it.

Can reform occur in an era where the Federal Communications Commission chair won’t even affirm that the agency is independent? Reform is highly improbable now, but that is not to say it will never happen.

Measures that strengthen independent news organizations, bolster local journalism, fund public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in too few hands are not only possible – they are necessary for a robust democracy.

When it comes to media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations such as CNN must not be pieces in the latest acquisition battle.