Sunday brought the last day for “Reliable Sources” and Brian Stelter on CNN.
The last show demonstrated exactly why the show got canceled and why Stelter got the boot. It’s clear how upset he was over getting canned, and the tears were sweet as he tried to justify himself.
Curtis Houck of NewsBusters took the bullet for all of us and waded into the dreck
, “We’re barely five minutes into the final Reliable Sources and the arrogance and hatred for conservatives that “the truth is not neutral” with Stelter and Carl Bernstein is flowing. They’ve already shown why it’s being canceled.”
“Second segment for Brian Stelter’s final show — the risk to the lives of journalists and how dangerous it is to be one in America because of the far-right. Ah, yes. Being a journalist in America is JUST like reporting in China, Myanmar, North Korea, and Russia!” Houck said.
Criticizing and mocking bad CNN hosts isn’t threatening or putting their lives at risk.
But Stelter would like to present the illusion that he’s some kind of mystical knight fight for “democracy” against the evil Donald Trump. That’s not just false, it’s delusional-and it surely isn’t journalism.
“CNN’s Brian Stelter decries outside criticism of journalism as a “poisonous cloud” that’s spread throughout the country and around the world. He adds he’s “proud” to have worked at a network when they knew they had to fight and attack Trump,” Houck explained.
So, it’s wrong to criticize journalism? Wasn’t that what Stelter’s show was supposed to be about? Of course, that’s why he’s gone because his show wasn’t that; it devolved into a constant attack on Fox News and Trump. But it was sort of hilarious as he talked about why the media didn’t cover the important stories that should be covered. Then he and Carl Bernstein immediately went back to the narrative about “democracy” being in danger from authoritarianism (translation: to them, that means Trump).
As we noted, CNN is probably not done with the axing of people yet, as they try to clean up and right the ship.
His final sign-off was full-on delusion about what his role in media has been over the last few years. In the end, he sounded close to tears.
“I know it’s not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue. It’s not partisan to stand up to demagogues. It’s required, it’s patriotic. We must make sure we don’t give platforms to those lying to our faces,” Stelter claimed.
The free world needs a “reliable source,” he finished. And yet, he’s been completely partisan and has been anything but a reliable source for a very long time. If he thinks that we shouldn’t give platforms to “those lying to our faces,” he might want to consider why he got the boot.
Then we got the perfect ending as the lights go dark on Stelter, and that’s it.
The world is just a little bit cleaner now, now they took some of the trash out.