Brian Stelter (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Well, the fat lady is singing at CNN; Brian Stelter is out. The network announced Thursday, August 18, that it is canceling Reliable Sources, Stelter’s media affairs show – and the host is not being moved to another program. The decision comes months after the company’s new leadership revealed plans to steer clear of activism and instead return to unbiased reporting.
Brian Stelter Is Out
“We appreciate his contributions to the network and wish him well as he embarks on new endeavors,” a CNN spokesperson said to CNN Business. Amy Entelis, the network’s executive vice president of talent and content development, praised the host, calling him an “impeccable broadcaster.” Yet niceties aside, they’re still giving him the boot.
Stelter has received criticism from the right for his bias. He often portrayed left-leaning news outlets in a favorable fashion while lambasting more conservative personalities and networks. He was known, for example, for his frequent diatribes against Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. The media activist regularly lashed out at former President Donald Trump, but he lost his will to “speak truth to power” when President Joe Biden took office. For example, the presenter was one of many in the media who attempted to debunk the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, claiming it was “Russian misinformation.” When pressed on the matter earlier this year, he refused to retract his claim about the story.
In another instance, Stelter did his level best to assure Americans that the Democrats were not in “disarray” last December when they repeatedly failed to pass the Build Back Better legislation. “[O]ne of the phrases I always hear these days, of course — ‘Dems in disarray.’ It’s a meme, it’s a joke, but it’s also said seriously all the time, ‘The Democrats are in disarray,’” he said. “Is it more accurate to say Congress is in disarray, Congress is failing?”
This is but a small sampling of the activism Stelter engaged in before joining Rep. Liz Cheney in the unemployment line.
Brian Stelter (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Is This a Sign?
CNN’s new CEO, Chris Licht, has reportedly been “evaluating whether personalities and programming that grew polarizing during the Trump era can adapt to the network’s new priority to be less partisan,” according to Axios. “If talent cannot adjust to a less partisan tone and strategy, they could be ousted.” Perhaps the end of Mr. Stelter’s tenure was inevitable, then.
While CNN has not yet given a public explanation for ousting Brian Stelter, it stands to reason that his hyperpartisanship was a motivating factor in its decision. Indeed, this could be the start of a partisan purge at the network.
CNN has experienced a rapid decline in ratings since it transformed itself into an anti-Trump propaganda mill under former CEO Jeff Zucker. The network seemed far more focused on convincing its audience of just how evil Trump must be than on the actual news of the day, and Americans just weren’t interested. Is Stelter’s firing a sign that Licht means business – that CNN will forsake political activism in favor of actual reporting? Perhaps more importantly, is it too late to right the ship?
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