Brian Stelter returns to CNN 2 years after being fired during network shakeup: ‘Yes, really’

Reporter Brian Stelter is returning to CNN after being fired from the cable network more than two years ago in a dramatic shakeup.

“Yes, indeed,” Stelter, 39, said Tuesday when he announced he will be the lead author of CNN’s Reliable Sources newsletter, which he first started in 2015.

He was previously canned in August 2022 after former network CEO Chris Licht ended the “Reliable Sources” program he had anchored since 2013. It was CNN’s longest-running show at the time of his death.

But this won’t be a Back to the Future remake, Stelter wrote in the newsletter.

The media industry has matured, CNN has evolved, and I’ve changed a lot since I signed on two years ago.

I loved my old life as a Sunday morning show anchor, but, to borrow some lingo from my video game blogging days, I’m done with that level of play. Time for new levels, new challenges.

Stelter’s new job comes after former CNN reporter Oliver Darcy left to run his own media newsletter.

In his new role as chief media analyst, he’s on-air, pushing digital content and at the helm of the newsletter he claimed will be different because I’m different.

Stelter wrote that after he was fired, he changed his news habits and moved out of Manhattan and “to a horse farm near one of former President Donald Trumps golf clubs.”

I experienced the news more like an everyday consumer, and in doing so, learned a lot about the attention economy and the information ecosystem, he wrote. I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned with you.

During his two-year hiatus, Stelter, who is married to NY1 anchor Jamie Stelter, wrote for various publications and even appeared on CNN a few times.

Stelter was a casualty of Lichts’ turnaround during his tenure at CNN in an effort to make the network more welcoming to both sides of the political aisle after it was accused of veering too far left during the Trump presidency.

While CNN enjoyed high ratings during the Trump era, ratings plummeted after he left office. Stelters program “Reliable Sources” had one of its worst-rated shows in the months leading up to its firing.

But Licht resigned last year as CEO after a scathing profile of the magazine upset staff and key senior figures. He was replaced by former New York Times and BBC executive Mark Thompson.