Brian Stelter’s the host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources.” Before that, he was a writer on the media beat for The New York Times.
And before that: He was a college student who launched a widely-read blog about cable news. Here’s his story:
I was a television news junkie, and I wanted to read more about the shows, the stars and the screw-ups.
I was also intrigued by this up-and-coming thing called blogging. In 2003, it suddenly became really easy to set up a blog and start publishing anything, anytime, anywhere. In the days before Facebook and Twitter, this was a revelation.
So in the fall of 2003, when I was starting classes at Towson University, I came up with CableNewser, the name of the website and my anonymous identity. I figured no one at the networks would take me seriously if they knew I was only 18 years old. I started the site on New Year’s Day 2004, when the biggest news involved Deborah Norville’s new MSNBC show and the expansion of CNN’s Inside Politics to Sundays.
The New York Times wrote about his blog back in 2006, and I love this anecdote:
The network publicists generally know his class schedule — afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays — and barrage him with material, which they often expect him to post within minutes. While recording a radio segment for one of his classes — Mass Communication 381 — he turned his cellphone off for 15 minutes, then turned it back on to find one nagging voice mail message from an ABC publicist and another from CNN.
I remember reading about Brian’s site when I was in college. It was such a simple idea: He loved cable news, and wanted to write more about it, so he created his own space to do so. A few friends and I were inspired by stories like his. I had a few small blogs in college, mostly about Mizzou sports. None were particularly good, but they gave me a space to collaborate with friends and try to learn how to write online. The goal wasn’t to become nationally-read sportswriters — although, secretly, I think we all thought we were a story or two away from being big names. We just wanted a place to write and write often.
Whatever your passions, find a friend who cares about that same thing, and make something with them: a blog, a podcast, a newsletter. You never know where it might lead you.
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That MSNBC screengrab — I wonder what happened to the “I-PHONE”? — is used here thanks to a Creative Commons license.