Former CNN host Brian Stelter will join the Harvard Kennedy School this fall. As a Walter Shorenstein media and democracy fellow, Stelter, who left CNN last month, will work at the Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics and Public Policy. According to the Washington Examiner, he will “convene a series of discussions about threats to democracy and the range of potential responses from the news media.”
The Kennedy School stated in a press release, “Brian Stelter is a nationally recognized media reporter and expert on the state of journalism and its wide-reaching implications for society and governance.” Stelter’s show “Reliable Sources” was canceled following the recent merger between Discovery and CNN’s parent firm WarnerMedia. His departure is likely the result of new CNN CEO Chris Licht’s attempt to rebrand the network in a less partisan fashion.
As part of CNN, Stelter often faced criticism from conservatives for his coverage of former President Donald Trump. In 2020, he also released the book “HOAX: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth,” in which he accused conservative media of endangering democracy by spreading false information.
During the internal reorganization of the network, other prominent anchors and reporters—including former chief legal correspondent Jeffrey Toobin and White House correspondent John Harwood—seem to have been fired. Amid a ratings decline, CNN has also been plagued with plummeting earnings expectations, complicating Licht’s efforts to change the company.
