Brian Stelter has announced his departure from CNN

CNN is canceling its Sunday media affairs show Reliable Sources, and host Brian Stelter is departing the network, Stelter tells NPR.

Stelter told NPR about his decision in a statement. This came just 24 hours after CNN canceled his show as part of its latest round of cuts.

Stelter said, “It was a rare honor to host a weekly show about the press at a time when it’s never been more important.” He promised to say more on Sunday’s show.

Stelter started writing about cable news on his blog when he was a college student. He went on to work as a media reporter for The New York Times. Reliable Sources has been on CNN the longest. Stelter has been its host for the past nine years, and in March, the show celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Yesterday, CNN’s head of news, Chris Licht, told Stelter about the decision. Since taking over as CEO when Warner Bros. Discovery bought the old Time Warner company, Licht has been cutting costs all over the network. Stelter often talked about the show’s ratings on Twitter. During the Trump years, he was one of the CNN hosts that conservatives often criticized for how he covered the media.

John Malone, a prominent financial stakeholder in the new WarnerDiscovery company, was among those who publicly joined the broader complaint that CNN had become politicized. In a February episode, Stelter quoted Malone over a dozen times in coverage of the Discovery acquisition for CNN and its sister properties, expressing alarm over the influence of the investor.

“Stelter joined CNN as the nation’s top media correspondent from the New York Times. He leaves CNN as a consummate broadcaster “CNN’s senior vice president of talent and programming development, Amy Entelis. “We are extremely proud of what Brian and his crew have accomplished over the years, and we are convinced that their effect and influence will outlast the show.”