Two years after his show Reliable Sources was canceled by CNN, Brian Stelter is rejoining the media network.
“I’m returning to CNN in a brand new role as Chief Media Analyst,” the reporter announced in an edition of the network’s Reliable Sources newsletter on Tuesday. “I’ll be appearing on air, developing digital content, and helming this newsletter.” Stelter noted that his newsletter start date will be Sept. 9.
Stelter had exited CNN in August 2022 during the tumultuous tenure of former CEO Chris Licht, whose short run at the network lasted 13 months and included numerous on-air lineup changes and uneven programming swings. At the time, Reliable Sources had been a staple on TV since 1993.
Now under the leadership of former New York Times and BBC chief Mark Thompson, the cable news network has been shaking up its coverage again, including with a new organization structure and a rethink of its text-based digital news site amid cost cuts. “I’m very happy to welcome Brian back to CNN in this new role,” Thompson said in a statement. “Brian is one of the best global experts in media commentary, and as the founder of the Reliable Sources newsletter, he is the perfect choice to lead Reliable Sources into its next chapter.”
Stelter first joined CNN in 2013 following a run at The New York Times and TVNewser. After parting ways with the network following that nine-year run, CNN’s Oliver Darcy took over the Reliable Sources newsletter, regularly reporting on the media industry and on its corporate parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. Darcy left CNN in August to launch his own paid newsletter startup, Status, which covers media industry news.
In July, CNN cut another 100 staffers, about 3 percent of its workforce, as Thompson pledged to reorient the brand toward a video-based future. “More than anything the CNN brand stands for news brought to you in moving pictures and sound with an onscreen anchor or correspondent acting as a trusted guide,” Thompson wrote in a memo. “In the future our digital products need to do a far better job of reflecting CNN’s massive strength in video and anchoring/reporting talent.”
In relaunching the Reliable Sources newsletter, Stelter wrote on Tuesday, “I always scoffed at people who said ‘getting fired was the best thing that’s ever happened to me’ — until, well, it happened to me. After 20+ years as a news junkie, I changed my habits and tuned out for a bit. I also changed my vantage point, moving from Manhattan to a horse farm near one of Donald Trump’s golf clubs. I experienced the news more like an everyday consumer, and in doing so, I learned a whole lot about the attention economy and the information ecosystem.”