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The Brian Stelter Show Is Over

Brian Stelter, the CNN host and inveterate newsletter O.G. and perceived Jeff Zucker mini-me, is the latest casualty of the Licht era. His undeniably successful tenure is a powerful metaphor for the media industry’s past, present, and future.

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for WarnerMedia
Dylan Byers
August 18, 2022

On Wednesday afternoon, I got a text from a reliable source that Brian Stelter, the host of CNN’s Reliable Sources and the lead author of its late-night newsletter of the same name, had been summoned to C.E.O. Chris Licht’s office. Apparently, Stelter emerged from the meeting looking ashen and refused to talk about the conversation with anyone. His co-author, Oliver Darcy, wrote Wednesday evening’s newsletter by himself. This morning, I confirmed that Stelter will be leaving CNN. His last episode of Reliable Sources will be this Sunday.