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Late Thursday, amid swirling speculation about an incident at Brown University, the network's Kaitlan Collins posted on social media, highlighting the uncertainty and directing people to her network’s 9pm newscast.

While CNN is certainly not a perfect news source, her message seemed accurate for a lot of people. It is one of the broadcasters where you can find fact-based and largely reliable reporting – particularly during breaking news situations like the one developing close to a New Hampshire storage facility.

An Uncertain State During a High-Stakes Struggle

However CNN, now middle-aged, finds itself in a precarious position as two massive media conglomerates battle over ownership of its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery.

No matter the result, the fate of CNN has turned into a high-stakes game of business acquisition, rather than as a question of what serves the information-seeking public.

“Here is one more case of the fundamental flaws with origins in decades of policy decisions,” said Victor Pickard, author of “Democracy Without Journalism?” and a academic specializing in media policy at the Pennsylvania University.

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

“The narrative is crafted as a financial tale with key players as the central actors, but there is scant discussion of the common good,” Pickard added.

A Further Layer: The Former President

This situation is made more complex by Donald Trump’s views about a network he has frequently denounced as perhaps his chief “fake news” antagonist.

Remember the shouts 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 White House briefings.

Trump now says that CNN needs new ownership. You can read that as ownership that will protect him from journalistic oversight. That is one reason why he appears to support Paramount Skydance, which has made a unsolicited offer.

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

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

A Possibility of More Turmoil

Significantly, if Netflix is successful, CNN and other cable outlets would first be separated into a separate entity. That would be a relief to many at the network, but it’s not exactly a safe harbor. That arrangement could pave the way for CNN for another sale. The cycle continues.

If you ask Timothy Wu, a lot of this is against the law, anyway. The prominent critic of big tech’s dominance recently argued that anti-trust laws should block both deals.

“Both acquisition attempts would be harmful to the country, and both should be challenged by the government,” Wu recently wrote.

The Bigger Issue and a Path Forward

Regardless of the resolution regarding CNN, the bigger problem remains.

“Our current system is a very system hostile to democracy, but we shouldn’t give in to learned helplessness,” Pickard noted. Government actions – from the 1930s and 1940s – helped to foster 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? Reform is a distant prospect now, but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible forever.

Measures that support independent news organizations, reinforce local journalism, finance public media, and outlaw the accumulation of media power in very few hands are achievable – they are essential for a healthy democracy.

Regarding media ownership, larger is not superior. And news organizations including CNN cannot be tools in the most recent merger game.