By Killing Off ‘Reliable Sources’ And Firing Host Brian Stelter, CNN Hands A Big Win To Its Worst Critics

CNN boss Chris Licht has a vision for the network that has no room for the network’s longest-running show, Reliable Sources—which marked its 30th anniversary back in March—or its host, media correspondent Brian Stelter. “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,” said CNN’s Amy Entelis in a statement released Thursday. The last edition of Reliable Sources will air on Sunday.

The news—first reported by NPR’s David Folkenflik—is a telling move for Licht, who reportedly informed Stelter of his decision yesterday. Reliable Sources has been one of CNN’s few ratings success stories, regularly beating Fox News Channel and MSNBC and often the network’s highest-rated weekend show. It also was a venue for talking about how the media covers stories, a beat that Stelter covered as well as if not better than anybody else. But that’s put people like Donald Trump and networks like Fox News regularly under the microscope, making Stelter a favorite target for conservatives convinced that CNN’s biased against them.

So what does Licht’s decision that there’s no place for Reliable Sources or Stelter tell us about what CNN is evolving into? NPR’s report cites a round of cost-cutting underway at the network, but Stelter’s profile—and the long tenure of Reliable Sources—make this a move that’s clearly about more than money, and it will feed into a narrative that CNN’s giving in to critics. “This is a terrible move by CNN. Brian Stelter was the symbol of a media establishment willing to question itself,” said Dan Froomkin, editor of Press Watch. “He was a flawed but essential voice in the national media. His firing is a win for all the wrong people.”

A Fox News story published last December accused Stelter ignoring media stories that were unflattering to “his liberal allies in the industry. The story called Stelter a “left-wing lackey.” Others accused Stelter of pulling punches in covering media stories about CNN:

While there’s plenty of room to debate how media stories were covered on Reliable Sources, it’s clear CNN’s decision to kill off the show and cut Stelter has given some of CNN’s biggest critics precisely what they wanted, with many comparing the news to word Rep. Liz Cheney—another huge target for Trump-backing conservatives—lost her primary bid in Wyoming:

“Everything about this rollout points to [Discovery board member] John Malone and [Discovery CEO] David Zaslav,” someone familiar with the decision told The Daily Beast. “Chris Licht did not want to do this.”

Deciding to pull back from opinion programming and stress hard news—which Zaslav has repeatedly said is his priority for CNN— does not by definition mean there’s no room for media criticism. The problem is that killing Reliable Sources doesn’t move CNN closer to the center as much as it confirms what the network’s worst critics have said, and hands those people the satisfaction of seeing Stelter dismissed. CNN in effect amplified those voices when it could easily have defended its longest-running show and made it a part of the network’s future.