It Finally Happened....

When I last checked, I had 426 emails telling me the news that Brian Stelter will be exiting CNN.

“Only legit question today is why did this take so long?” said one email to FTVLive about Stelter’s exit.

“It’s a great day at CNN, Brian Stelter is leaving!,” said another email from a CNN staffer to FTVLive.

Most of the emails to FTVLive included a link to a Stelter is gone story, or a post on social media. Almost all the emails had some comment about Stelter being ousted and 100% of those were all for in happening.

Some said that I will be happy to know that Stelter is leaving CNN.

I’m not happy to hear that for a number of reasons. First, it always when someone loses their job, even if they weren’t very good at it.

Second, Brian Stelter often made great subject content for FTVLive.com.

Lastly, I feel a bit sorry for Brian as he kind was screwed over.

Not by Chris Licht mind you. Licht did what needed to be done and to be honest, he most likely should have done it sooner.

Stelter got screwed over by Jeff Zucker.

Zucker hired Stelter, a young kid that never worked in TV news before and only had one job on his resume. Stelter came to CNN from the NY Times.

There was a point where I thought Brian Stelter had a bright future in front of him. Sure, he was still a bit green and thought he was a bigger deal than he was, but that describes most journalists in this business.

Stelter was working as a Journalist at the Times, but that changed very quickly at CNN.

Jeff Zucker found a kid that he could mold like wet clay, and it wasn’t long before Stelter was no longer a Journalist and was just a mouthpiece for Jeff Zucker.

Zucker told him what to say and how to say and Stelter followed his leader. When Zucker was putting then candidate Donald Trump on CNN almost 24/7, Stelter would gush about Trump.

There was a point that Stelter was like a little kid when Trump used Stelter’s phone to check primary results. He wrote about that moment in his newsletter.

It was like reading a blog post from a young girl that met Beyonce and the singer took a sip out of the girl’s water bottle.

Zucker, Stelter, and the rest of CNN’s not stop coverage about Trump helped get him elected to office.

But, just like Trump does with almost everyone he knows, he turned on CNN and he turned on Jeff Zucker.

Zucker then started instructing Stelter to go negative on Donald Trump and like a good soldier, Stelter did just that.

Zucker wanted Stelter to attack Fox News and he complied.

It wasn’t long after Brian Stelter joined CNN that any recognition of him being a Journalist was gone.

Stelter was just Zucker puppet and after Zucker got fired, Stelter had been doing Zucker’s shit work for so long, he had no clue as to how to be a journalist again.

Brian Stelter was lost and it is likely he will never be looked at as a credible Journalist ever again.

I doubt his career in media is over, but I would say that his career in Journalism is. Maybe he lands at MSNBC as that would be the only fit I can see for him on TV.

What about News Nation?

I don’t think Chris Cuomo is ever going to let Jeff Zucker’s minion into the same network he’s working for.

Stelter could try branching out on his own and that is likely the smartest move. But, at the same time, in talking to people on both the right and the left, not many seem to like Stelter and if he started a YouTube, or a podcast, I think most of those that consumed it, would be hate-watching.

But hey, if there is enough of those people he could maybe make it work.

Stelter will host the last ironically named “Reliable Sources” this weekend and then he will walk away from CNN.

My guess is he walks away a little less cocky then when he walked in the door at CNN. Hopefully, he has learned a lesson about selling out, even if it is to your boss.

He is also a good lesson to everyone in TV news that if your boss asks you to do something that compromises you as a Journalist, don’t do it and just walk away.

One you lose your credibility as a Journalist, it is damn near impossible to get it back.

Brian Stelter learned that lesson the hard way.