(Mediaite) Brian Stelter is leaving CNN as the network cancels his Sunday media show Reliable Sources.
The final episode will air this Sunday.
“CNN will end its Reliable Sources program on Sunday, August 21st. As a result Brian Stelter will leave the company. We appreciate his contributions to the network and wish him well as he embarks on new endeavors,” a network spokesperson told Mediaite.
Stelter hosted Reliable Sources and helmed the massively influential media newsletter of the same name for the last nine years. He started his career blogging about the television news industry during college before joining the New York Times as a media reporter.
CNN hired Stelter in 2013 to replace Howard Kurtz as host of Reliable Sources, which turned 30 this year.
The newsletter will carry on, a CNN spokesperson told Mediaite. It will be helmed by CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy.
The fate of CNN and its on-air hosts currently lies in the hands of Chris Licht, the newly installed CEO who succeeded Jeff Zucker and has publicly vowed to take the network in a less adversarial direction. According to Puck’s Dylan Byers, Stelter was called into Licht’s office on Wednesday.
“It was a rare privilege to lead a weekly show focused on the press at a time when it has never been more consequential,” Stelter said in a statement to NPR, which was first to report the news.
On Twitter, Stelter provided a semi-satisfying explanation for why he has not yet returned Mediaite’s request for comment:
Darcy also weighed in on Twitter, calling the end of Reliable Sources the “end of an era.”
CNN executive vice president Amy Entelis hailed Stelter in a separate statement to Mediaite.
“Stelter came to CNN from the New York Times as the nation’s top media reporter. He departs CNN an impeccable broadcaster. We are proud of what Brian and his team accomplished over the years, and we’re confident their impact and influence will long outlive the show,” she said.
Reporting from Mediaite.
