December 8, 2013

My introduction:

“Good morning and welcome to a very snowy Washington. My name is Brian Stelter.

Ten years ago, I started a blog about cable news. It’s called”TVNewser. And I started it because I believe that the media and cable news in particular shape our society in all sorts of important ways.

I’ve been reporting and writing about CNN and its competitors ever since. And today I’m the new host of RELIABLE SOURCES.

Since this is my debut, I want to talk about what this show is, why it’s so special and what it represents. We have so much media news to cover first. So, let’s get to it…”

My close to the show:

“Welcome back. I’m Brian Stelter. We made it to the end here.

This program, RELIABLE SOURCES, was created in 1992 to cover how the media views the world.

Howard Kurtz provided what he always liked to call a “critical lens” on the media. It’s an honor to take Howe’s place starting today, although I have to admit this is all a little strange.

For years I’ve been on the side of the camera you’re on, writing about CNN at my blog, TVNewser, and at The New York Times.

The bosses at this network liked some of the stories I wrote there, and strongly disliked some of the other stories I wrote there. That’s probably how it’s going to be here, too, and that’s how it should be.

I believe this program matters more than ever. Just think about the name, RELIABLE SOURCES. These days everyone and everything is a source.

People with cell phones publish news. Presidents, athletes, celebrities, they all bypass the press by making their own YouTube videos and Vines.

Advertisers are producing things that look like news, and news organizations are producing things that look like ads.

And the ways that we consume all of this are rapidly changing.

These days everyone’s a source, but who is reliable? What’s reliable? And how do these sources shape our views of the world?

That’s what this show is about. And that’s all for this edition of RELIABLE SOURCES.

This was pretty fun, I think, and I am new to television, like I mentioned. I’ve got a lot to learn, so I’d love to read your feedback about this debut show and about what you’d like to see or not see next time.

You can find me on Twitter and on Facebook. My user name is BrianStelter.

And I hope you will join us on CNN.com where my colleagues and I will be covering the day’s biggest media stories, seven days a week.

Then we’ll recap these stories right here next Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. I hope to see you then.”