CNN Has No Plans to Replace ‘Reliable Sources’ – Creating a Huge Void in Media Criticism

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Watchdogging the watchdogs won’t be “as broad of a conversation” in mainstream media, experts tell TheWrap

Media critics Margaret Sullivan Howard Kurtz Brian Stelter
Leaders of media criticism (from left) Margaret Sullivan, Howard Kurtz and Brian Stelter. (Getty Images)

CNN has no plans to replace Brian Stelter’s just-canceled “Reliable Sources” with another media-focused show in the foreseeable future, TheWrap has learned.

“There are a number of programs in the concept and development phases, and it’s possible media coverage will be an element of a show,” a network insider told TheWrap, “but no indication that an exclusively media beat show is part of the plan.”

A CNN spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Experts say that the cancellation of the show — launched after attacks on media coverage of the Gulf War in 1993 — exacerbates the dearth of mainstream media criticism given media critic Margaret Sullivan’s recent departure from The Washington Post and columnist Ben Smith’s exit

Loree Seitz

Loree joined TheWrap as a reporter in 2022 after interning at the publication during the summer of 2021. Loree has covered entertainment, film and television for TheWrap and has reported on the media industry and the cable news beat. She has also written for MovieMaker Magazine, where she interned in 2020.

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