The media industry was rocked by upheaval and the need for reinvention in 2022, as the country and economy started to adjust to a post-pandemic atmosphere. Millions of dollars were poured into new endeavors and experimental ventures — some that emerged as leading forces in the media world, and some that followed Icarus’ path of flying too close to the sun before crashing to Earth.
In the news business, the year ends with a great deal of uncertainty as layoffs loom, legacy publications face strikes and alternative media continues to siphon off viewers, listeners, and readers. But, when looking back at the major stories of 2022 – from Uvalde to Ukraine – the necessity and value of quality journalism has never been more clear.
The year began with many themes spilling over from 2021, from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the continued dominance of Donald Trump over the news agenda. However, as the year continued both Covid and Trump began to wane as Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine overshadowed all else by March.
As spring gave way to summer, the leaked Supreme Court’s bombshell decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago reshaped the landscape, energizing both sides of the political spectrum. All the while, midterm primaries played out as Trump-backed candidates and the GOP establishment duked it out and the House Jan. 6th Committee captivated audiences on CNN and MSNBC with shocking hearings.
On cable news, MSNBC’s star host, Rachel Maddow, announced she would only host once a week, which meant both CNN and MSNBC began searching for new 9 p.m. attractions. CNN, which got a new parent company and a new leader in 2022, briefly dabbled in streaming with the short-lived CNN+. While CNN continues to go through a shake-up, Fox News began competing with broadcast networks in the ratings and strung together months of dominance.
As the election heated up, both sides dug in. Issues like inflation, crime, and the southern border dominated the right, while Jan. 6, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and concerns over the future of American democracy refocused the left.
As the highly anticipated “Red Wave” failed to materialize in the midterms, the GOP was left to reassess their strategy, while many in the media wondered aloud what went wrong in covering the narrative of the election. While it was undoubtedly a year in which political journalism shined, cable news reminded the country of its impact, particularly in the sphere of breaking news and analysis in an ever changing world.
Today, Mediaite recognizes the industry’s 75 biggest movers and shakers in 2022. A quick explainer on how we arrived at our final list: There are a variety of factors that we take into account when evaluating someone’s clout. A few of the metrics are tangible, like TV ratings, social media followings, and engagement. Those are all easily measurable. Some of the other criteria we use are harder to define, but we know it when we see it. Is there insider buzz surrounding a particular media figure? Do they churn out scoops? Are they the talk of their rivals? Are they being courted by other major outlets?
This year we are also proud to bring back our industry blowout in New York featuring the biggest stars in the business. While Covid has kept us from holding this event since 2019, we’re excited to celebrate our honorees in person once again.
With that, the writers and editors of Mediaite are proud to present our 2022 selections for the Most Influential in News Media.
This list was written by Sarah Rumpf, Joe DePaolo, Caleb Howe, Juwan Holmes, Leia Idliby, Colby Hall, Tommy Christopher, Aidan McLaughlin, Ken Meyer, Kipp Jones, Alex Griffing, Candice Ortiz, Jackson Richman, Zachary Leeman, Michael Luciano, and Isaac Schorr.
75. Ben Smith
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Few journalists command buzz like Ben Smith. His gift for generating hype came in handy when he launched Semafor, the highly-anticipated media start-up he co-founded with Justin Smith, the former CEO of Bloomberg Media. The result is high-brow but scoop-heavy news, delivered by a team of heavy-hitting journalists, including David Weigel, Benjy Sarlin and Reed Albergotti. Think the excellent Financial Times weekend edition, but all digital. Or AirMail, but worth reading. The stylish site launched with a bang, featuring compelling political coverage and of course a deep dive into the identity crisis at the New York Times courtesy of Ben Smith himself. The former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News and media columnist at the Times has resumed writing regularly about the media, alongside his deputy, ace reporter Max Tani, whom he poached from Politico. That’s a gift for anyone who wants a sharp insight on the industry.
74. Taylor Lorenz
Sara Kenigsberg via Washington Post
Tech journalist, online culture connoisseur, and lightning rod for controversy, Taylor Lorenz has been behind some of the biggest media headlines of 2022. In April, Lorenz uncovered the woman behind the popular, vehemently anti-LGBT Libs of TikTok Twitter account. The story kicked up a firestorm and made Lorenz a target of right-wing fury as figures like Fox News’s Tucker Carlson took aim. The article was published in the Washington Post just a month after Lorenz joined the publication after jumping over from the New York Times. While courting controversy inside the Post and on Twitter, Lorenz has steadily amassed an enormous following online. She boasts 342,000 followers on Twitter, 110,000 followers on Instagram, and 514,000 followers on TikTok. Lorenz has dominated her beat and pioneered coverage of the internet by focusing on content creators across various platforms, which with their millions of followers, fueled the rise of the new, alternative media continuing to change the broader landscape.
73. Ben Collins and Donie O’Sullivan
Ben Collins of NBC News and Donie O’Sullivan of CNN are perhaps the most prominent disinformation reporters in media, at a time when the beat is disturbingly relevant. Both are indefatigable guides to the internet fever swamps, devoting much of their time covering the latest conspiracy theories driving the more fringe elements in U.S. politics. Collins, whose commentary has made him into a villain on the right, has peeled back the curtain on the alarming growth of QAnon (and its adjacent movements), which he reported was especially outraged after the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home to recover classified government documents. O’Sullivan has encountered similar characters on his beat. In July, one person he spoke with at a Trump rally suggested the Capitol attack did not actually happen. Rather than be taken aback, O’Sullivan calmly questioned his interlocutor as if he had been in that position before – and that’s because he has, many times. More recently, O’Sullivan covered Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, after which he reported that a user named “Jesus Christ” had received a blue checkmark as part of the “unnecessary chaos” that had beset the company.
72. Chris Christie
In 2022 Chris Christie was a media pundit, not a politician, and an influential one at that. The former governor of New Jersey, now an ABC News contributor, is doing his part to make ABC’s This Week appointment viewing with pithy quotes and tough talk for Democrats and Republicans alike. Christie is on a very short list of Republicans who can criticize Trump repeatedly and unsparingly and still maintain credibility with the mainstream conservative base. His regular sparring matches with former DNC chair Donna Brazile certainly help to keep his Republican bona fides intact. The former governor has been candid about tossing his hat back in the presidential ring. But he’s carved out such a strong niche on television that he might be best served staying put.
71. Kate Bolduan
Few embody Chris Licht’s vision for CNN better than Kate Bolduan. When Licht took over CNN from Jeff Zucker this year, he vowed to lower the volume at a network that had, during the Trump administration, often fashioned itself as a bastion for the Resistance. Bolduan maintained a lower profile in that world, but now that CNN is seeking to pivot to the middle, she’s set to thrive as tough interrogator of both Democrats and Republicans. Bolduan, who anchors CNN’s 11 a.m. program At This Hour, joined the network under Zucker and was named co-host of morning show New Day before she turned 30. In the years since, Bolduan interviewed President Barack Obama, covered midterm and presidential elections, and reported from war zones including Afghanistan. Early this year, Bolduan had the misfortune of being selected to host a show on CNN+. While the ill-fated streaming service lasted just three weeks, Bolduan’s show, Five Things, was one of its most popular.
70. The Twitter Video Influencers
The reports of Twitter’s death might be greatly exaggerated. Or at least really premature, because the app and service still play an enormous role in the modern media. Reporters, anchors, producers, writers — they all rely on the social media app not just when it comes to seeking out content, but in promoting their own. Or having it promoted by others. And among those others, the great clip artists are a uniquely influential group. You know and probably follow at least one such user. Grabien’s Tom Elliott, Twitter stars Aaron Rupar, Greg Price, Acyn, Ron Filipowski, and dozens of smaller brands and accounts — the clippers drive engagement and attention. If you’re in the media, you know what an essential part of the ecosystem they are. They post short clips from TV, YouTube, TikTok, streamers, events, and anywhere else that video may be, which is everywhere. They share them fast, they characterize them, their tweets and posts are shared by the tens of thousands, and they can create a news cycle out of something that could have gone unnoticed without their intervention. Trump clips are one of the biggest sellers, but polarizers from Joy Reid to Ted Cruz to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, from the MyPillow guy to Hollywood’s loudmouths are hot tickets.
69. Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward
The story dropped at 8:32 p.m. on May 3, and hit like a percussion bomb. “Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows,” the Politico headline read. And with that, the dogged correspondents Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward had officially delivered the scoop of a lifetime, and set the agenda for the American political debate for months. It was the most-trafficked story in Politico’s 15-year history — with more than 11 million people clicking in just the first four days. And it set off a guessing game all across the Beltway. Just how did they get a copy of a draft Supreme Court opinion, which are generally as tightly guarded as nuclear missile silos. Chief Justice John Roberts has spent months trying to find out, but seems no closer to an answer. But let’s be clear this was not their first big story. These two have been known to break bombshells on their respective beats for years. With their methods still a mystery, would anyone be surprised if these two reporting dynamos pulled it off again?
68. Jessica Tarlov
The co-host of The Five on Fox News makes her debut on Mediaite’s Most Influential list, and it is well-deserved. Of the show’s three rotating liberals, Tarlov is the most effective at engaging her conservative interlocutors on the pressing political matters of the day. And being a liberal on Fox News offers an opportunity to present another side to a huge audience who may not hear it very often. No stranger to being ganged up on, she deftly articulates her positions, often in the face of constant interruption and mockery. Unlike her alternating liberal co-hosts Harold Ford and Geraldo Rivera, Tarlov does not go on The Five to play nice with the conservatives at the table, but to do battle with them – sometimes all at once. That makes for compelling, and sometimes even informative, television.
67. Oliver Darcy
Brian Stelter’s abrupt departure from CNN elevated one man to the top of the network’s revered media reporting division: Oliver Darcy, who long served as Stelter’s high-metabolism number two. He has proven himself more than up to the challenge. Darcy took the helm of the Reliable Sources newsletter, which he revamped with an elegant new look and a broader focus on media, entertainment, politics, business, and tech. Both in his regular appearance on air and prolific presence online, Darcy has broken down the corporate “chaos” of Elon Musk’s new management of Twitter, CNN’s changes under Chris Licht, the inside scoop on rival network Fox News, and everything in between. Darcy has proven his ability to maintain CNN’s reputation for media reporting with smart analysis and solid scoops – no small feat following the loss of Stelter, whose relentless work ethic turned the network into a go-to for coverage of the industry.
66. Benjamin Hall
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall displayed an immense level of bravery throughout his coverage on the ground in Ukraine. He put personal safety aside to report live from a war zone and experienced the cruelty of the Russian invasion first hand. On March 14, Hall was fired on by Russian troops outside of Kyiv in an attack that killed Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova. While Hall survived thanks to an astonishing evacuation effort, he lost part of his leg, his foot and was blinded in one eye. The wounds Hall sustained during his coverage not only demonstrated his undaunted reporting, but also exposed American audiences to the true brutality of the invasion. Even prior to the attack, Hall was integral to Fox’s coverage of the war. He delivered a report from Kyiv just four days before the shooting, discussing the tactics of Russian forces and revealing “just how poor the Russian advance has been.”
