“Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter insisted Sunday that he will continue to do pink for CNN even after his show is canceled this week, but stressed that it’s important for the network and others to hold the media accountable. CNN gave Stelter a chance to host a final episode of the 30-year-old Sunday morning program to the media even after it was learned this week that he and the show would be leaving — a gesture relatively rare on television. Stelter said it was not partisan to stand up for decency, democracy and dialogue. “It’s not partisan to stand up to demagogues,” he said. “It’s necessary. It’s patriotic. We have to make sure we don’t give platforms to those who lie to their faces. But we also have to make sure we’re representing the full spectrum of the debate and that we’re representing what’s happening in the country and the world.” It was Stelter’s most direct reference to what is believed to be the reason for his death. CNN has not spoken publicly about it. Since starting this spring, CNN’s new CEO, Chris Licht, has made it clear that he wants to tone down the view, particularly as he has Republicans resisting the network. Stelter, who wrote a book about Fox News Channel and was a frequent critic of Fox, was a lightning rod for conservative complaints. Some of the latest “Reliable Sources” guests have been more direct. Eric Deggans, NPR’s television critic, said he hopes CNN will continue to give viewers context and not limit itself to false equivalencies. “Facts alone” are not enough, he said. “Will CNN have the guts to do it?” Deegans asked. “I hope so.” Stelter, who hosted the show for nine years, also had Watergate secretary Carl Bernstein as a guest and brought back the first guest from the first “Reliable Sources” in 1992 — then-local journalist Brian Karem.
