RUBEN NAVARRETTE JR.: We’ve got plenty of activists, but what we need is the news

After nearly nine years of hosting CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” and serving as the network’s chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter has lost his job.

I can empathize. Over the course of 33 years in the meat grinder of the media industry, I’ve lost 14 of them. My offense? Practicing journalism. Being in the center, you’re crushed between two icebergs — one on the right, the other on the left.

A liberal television network chose not to renew my contract after my boss told me to stop criticizing former President Barack Obama’s atrocious immigration policies because “people are tired of hearing it.” A Catholic media company recruited me to write a column, but pulled the plug after a few years when I wouldn’t stop writing columns that were pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ rights.

Meanwhile, like other CNN hosts — Don Lemon, Jake Tapper, Jim Acosta, et al. — Stelter didn’t camouflage his politics. His disdain for former President Donald Trump and other Republicans was palpable. The self-proclaimed “most trusted name in news” became much less trustworthy when the network took it upon itself to not merely join the anti-Trump resistance but to lead it.

What bothered me most about Stelter when I watched his show, and what made him a less-than-reliable source, was the fact that he always seemed aware of who paid his salary — which was reported to be $1 million annually.

When Fox News found itself embroiled in a scandal, he covered it breathlessly. But whenever CNN stepped in it, he usually found something else to talk about.

The fact that Stelter was slow to cover the ethical lapse of former CNN host Chris Cuomo in trying to help his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, survive a sexual harassment scandal is one example.

But if you really want to know why the leadership at Warner Bros. Discovery — CNN’s new corporate parent — canceled “Reliable Sources,” and why Stelter’s services were no longer required, just take a look at how the host signed off from the final broadcast.

The 36-year-old millennial didn’t go quietly. The problem is, what Stelter said, and how he said it, made it clear that he doesn’t grasp why he had to go at all. His comments were inappropriate but also revealing.

“So much of the media ecosystem in 2022 is garbage, but so much of it is spectacular,” he told viewers. “The hard part is sorting out the treasure from the trash.” Stelter then proceeded to trash his soon-to-be former bosses, who have signaled they intend to return CNN to its roots with more straight news and less opinion.

“I know it’s not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue,” he said. “It’s not partisan to stand up to demagogues. It’s required. It’s patriotic. We must make sure we don’t give platforms to those who are lying to our faces.”

Ultimately, Stelter said, it’s the job of viewers “to hold CNN accountable” — along with all other forms of media, whether it’s the local newspaper or a digital news site.

I’ll co-sign that. But what exactly is the “job” of the media these days? No one seems to know. So everyone simply roots for their team. There’s blue media and red media. But what is hard to find is media that is fair, honest and consistent.

As for me, I’m still in the game. I’m producing content — print, digital, audio, video — that people want to consume. I’m grateful.

To pay it forward, I’ve created a one-of-a-kind Journalist Survival Guide. It won’t protect anyone from losing a job, obviously. Consider the source. But, if you’re part of the Fourth Estate, it could prevent you from losing your way.

There are only three elements:

■ Focus on doing your job, and don’t get distracted so you wind up trying to do someone else’s.

■ Recognize that it’s not your responsibility to lead a movement, only to move those who will eventually lead.

■ And while you should always take your job seriously, you would be wise to take yourself much less so.

It’s too bad that Stelter — who began his career at The New York Times — didn’t have this road map.

Journalists tell stories, simplify the complicated, dig up truth and hold the powerful accountable. That’s it. We’re not meant to be advocates, activists or agents of change. A now-former CNN host forgot that lesson. Let’s hope others in the media remember it.

Ruben Navarrette’s email address is crimscribe@icloud.com. His podcast, “Ruben in the Center,” is available through every podcast app.