In June, Axios.com media reporter Sara Fischer implied CNN Sources of reliability host Brian Stelter could be on the chopping block as new CNN CEO Chris Licht promised to give the network a less partisan tone. It was from a faraway perch that I dismissed …. and turned out to be incorrect.
NPR’s David Folkenflik reported Licht summoned Stelter to his office on August 17 and informed him he was no longer needed and his show was being cancelled. After the corporate boilerplate that CNN executives are used to, Amy Entelis (CEO of CNN) stated that Stelter was a CNN employee. New York TimesHe is the top national media reporter. He departs CNN an impeccable broadcaster.” Nice words to go with the pink slip.
It was first hosted by Bernard Kalb. Sources of reliability was a predictable part of the stodgy CNN Sunday lineup. This was the perfect example of liberal media embrace. Kalb reported on his old CBS News colleague Dan Rather attending a Democratic fundraiser in Travis County, Texas, and proclaimed “Dan himself has said that it’s a serious mistake, that he regrets it. However, I do not believe it will impact Dan’s ongoing pursuit of objectivity.
Stelter assumed the show’s control in 2013, at just 28 years old. He quickly became one the most hated NewsBusters targets after Donald Trump climbed down the golden escalator to the presidency in 2015. One of the most mocked segments was Stelter’s flirting with Michael Avenatti (the attorney who represented Trump-attacking porn star Stormy Dans) on September 16, 2018.
Stelter believed Avenatti was a viable presidential candidate because he made numerous appearances on liberal networks. “Looking ahead to 2020, one reason why I’m taking you seriously as a contender is because of your presence on cable news.” But Avenatti’s future was going to prison.
The summit of the Trump derangement came on August 25, 2019, as Stelter’s guest Allen Frances proclaimed “Trump is as destructive a person in this century as Hitler, Stalin, and Mao were in the last century. They may have caused many millions more deaths by him than they did. Even PolitiFact was nudged to proclaim this was “Pants On Fire.”
Stelter never objected, then later claimed “I wish I had heard him say it, but I was distracted by tech difficulties.” If you have a serious staff, you could have spoken up before the end of the show to apologize for this whopper.
Stelter and I were together at a Paley Center panel discussion in New York a month later. He made a vague reference about when he had been called in for a discipline session at CNN, and I said “ooh, about what?” He wouldn’t divulge, but I would have guessed it was failing to interject on that “Worse Than Stalin and Hitler” junk.
After watching several Sean Hannity programs, Stelter slanderously criticized Hannity’s use of words such as “socialist stalker, weakness, shameless failure, psychotic and indoctrination hell holes” on June 27, 2021. Stelter also used the words “authoritarian”, poisonous, abusive and propaganda in that same segment. He proclaimed Hannity wasn’t offering “opnion,” he was offering “poison.” Did Stelter ever reflect on his own harsh verbiage?
CNN launched a ridiculous “Facts First” advertising campaign as it veered ever more heavily into opinion. But Stelter underlined the arrogance: “We’re not anti-Trump. We’re pro-truth.” When Kellyanne Conway referred to his side of the aisle, Stelter acted offended: “I’m not on a side of the aisle.”
CNN has a long way to go to get out of its “side of the aisle.”