‘This Time Around Will Be Different’: Brian Stelter Returning To CNN

Media personality Brian Stelter, who was fired by CNN two years ago as his ratings had tanked, announced he will be returning to the network.

“I’m returning to @CNN in a brand new role as Chief Media Analyst. I’ll be appearing on TV, developing digital content, and once again helming the Reliable Sources newsletter,” he wrote on X.

I'm returning to @CNN in a brand new role as Chief Media Analyst. I'll be appearing on TV, developing digital content, and once again helming the Reliable Sources newsletter.

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 3, 2024

Stelter continued by citing “the sheer amount of talent at CNN covering media, tech, pop culture, infowars,” calling it “stunning.”

“We’re going to reimagine the digest and deliver what you value most. Everyone and everything is a source now. So what’s reliable?” he asked rhetorically.

“I’m coming back to CNN with a fresh perspective,” he insisted. “See, I always scoffed at people who said ‘getting fired was the best thing that’s ever happened to me’ — until it happened to me. After 20+ years as a news junkie, I changed my media habits. I tuned out for a bit … and I experienced the news more like an everyday consumer. In doing so, I learned a whole lot about the attention economy and the information ecosystem. So this time around will be different, because I am different.”

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In November 2021, Stelter stated, “So much of what might happen in the next three years is sadly predictable,” he said. “Reporters who try to counter Trump’s lies are jeered and smeared more than ever before. His verbal attacks against the media are so pervasive now that physical violence erupts more often: beatings at rallies, bombs in newsrooms… The bombs don’t explode, but that isn’t the point. Fear is the point: silence through force.”

In August 2020, Stelter defended Joe Biden from critics saying he showed signs of cognitive decline, saying, “Fox’s narrative and talk radio’s narrative for months has been that Joe Biden is falling apart. You just heard Ben Shapiro say it, falling apart. And there he is riding a bike, out for a bike ride. And Fox, of all networks, is the one that showed it happen.”

Shapiro responded to Stelter’s segment by writing on Twitter, “I’m sorry, but ‘Biden rode a bike!’ is not a good comeback to ‘Biden is falling apart.’ My son also rides a bike. He is four, and not qualified to be president.”

Look, look, he's fine, he's riding a bike! pic.twitter.com/ZRJWoY0s3O

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 10, 2020

In 2018, Stelter’s “Reliable Sources” deceptively edited clips of NRA member Colion Noir and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch saying that the media loved mass shootings.

The show conveniently edited out how both Loesch and Noir specifically qualified their statements by stating they were not implying the media loved the tragedy of the shootings but that the media loved the ratings they gained from the shootings.

Ryan Saavedra contributed to this article.

Related: FAKE NEWS: CNN’s Brian Stelter Deceptively Edits NRA Comments. Here’s What They Actually Said.