Brian Stelter says CNN should hold media accountable in latest ‘Reliable Sources’ signing – NBC10 Philadelphia

“Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter insisted Sunday that he would support CNN even after his show ended. canceled this weekbut stressed that it was important for the network and others to hold the media accountable.

CNN gave Stelter the chance to host the final series of the 30-year-old Sunday morning program in the media, even after it was announced this week that he and the show would be leaving — a gesture that is relatively rare on television.

Stelter said it was not partisan to stand up for decency, democracy and dialogue.

“Resisting demagogues is not partisan,” he said. “It is required. It’s patriotic. We need to make sure we don’t give a platform to those who lie to our face. But we also need to make sure we represent the full range of the debate and what’s happening in the country and the world.”

This was Stelter’s most direct reference to what is believed to be the cause of his death; CNN has not said this publicly. Since he started this spring, CNN’s new chief executive, Chris Licht, has made it clear that he wants to tone down the sentiment, particularly because it has made Republicans resistant to the network.

Stelter, who wrote a book about Fox News Channel and has often criticized Fox, has been a lightning rod for conservative complaints.

Some of the more recent guests on “Reliable Sources” have been more direct. Eric Deggans, NPR’s television critic, said he hoped CNN would continue to give viewers context and not be reduced to false equivalence. “Facts alone” are not enough, he said.

“Will CNN have the guts to do this?” Deggans asked. “I hope so.”

Stelter, who hosted the show for nine years, also had Watergate whistleblower Carl Bernstein as a guest and brought back the first guest from the first “Reliable Sources” in 1992, then-local journalist Brian Karem.