CNN’s “reliable sources” are back. Kind of.
Brian Stelter, a media reporter and pundit CNN left Amid differences with the network’s previous leadership two years ago, the company is returning as its chief media analyst and writer of its “reliable sources” newsletter.
The network’s Sunday morning media criticism roundtable that it hosted, also called “Reliable Sources,” will not return. In his new role, Mr. Stelter will serve as an on-air analyst in addition to writing its newsletter and reporting for the network.
Mr. Stelter, 39, announced his return to CNN on Tuesday in a newsletter he founded, saying he had returned to the network in a somewhat different capacity.
“I loved my old life as a Sunday morning show anchor, but, to borrow some language from my video game blogger days, I ended that level of play,” Mr. Stelter said. “Time for new levels, new challenges.”
CNN Chief Executive Mark Thompson said in a statement that he was “delighted” to welcome Mr. Stelter back to CNN, calling him “one of the best global experts in media commentary.”
Mr. Stelter replaces Oliver Darcy as newsletter writer. Mr. Darcy lately left the network to launch his own subscription-based news site, Status, which focuses on media and entertainment news. CNN also regularly calls on media reporter Sara Fisher for Axios as an on-air analyst.
Mr. Stelter, a former New York Times reporter, joined CNN in 2013 as the host of “Reliable Sources” under the network’s president, Jeff Zucker, and left in 2022 after the new leader, Chris Licht, reprogrammed the network. When Mr. Licht took office, he tried to distance the network from the partisan analysis that President Donald J. became popular on CNN during the Trump administration. In some cases, that meant removing voices he considered too liberal. Mr. Stelter was among the prominent network hosts who audience research showed were most closely associated with liberal attitudes.
After Mr. Darcy announced plans to leave the network, Mr. Stelter began negotiating a return to CNN in the past three weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Darcy’s decision was unrelated to Mr. Stelter’s appointment, the other person said.
In the inaugural edition of his new newsletter, Mr. Stelter reflected on his tumultuous departure from CNN, saying it allowed him to experience the news “like an everyday consumer,” “focusing his attention on the attention economy and the information ecosystem. “
“I always scoffed at people who said ‘getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to me’ — until, well, it happened to me,” Mr. Stelter wrote.
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