Mediaite’s Most Influential in News Media 2020
45. Martha MacCallum
Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum is making her third consecutive appearance on the Most Influential list. And it’s no surprise. The Story regularly tops the time-slot over competitors MSNBC and CNN. She has continued to score top interviews with political power players and her show regularly produces moments that catch attention. Just last week she oversaw a major personality clash between Fox News regular Charlie Kirk and a Fox News correspondent-at-large Geraldo Rivera, the kind of Trump-flavored brawl that keeps viewers coming back to Fox. And she recently scored a big, exclusive interview with former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. MacCallum led election night coverage for the network, which is just about the biggest job in political media. She co-anchored convention coverage, too. She’s a pillar of Fox’s news division, and her success speaks for itself: In January Fox signed MacCallum to a multi-year deal, ensuring her staying power at the top-rated cable news network.
44. Wolf Blitzer
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In a cable news world increasingly reliant on showmanship, it can be hard for a stoic news presenter — even an icon like Wolf Blitzer — to break through. But 2020 was the biggest news year of a generation. And it called for a newsperson. Enter the CNN legend — who was wisely given a major role as CNN shuffled its line-up to focus on the pandemic. The network’s decision to feature Blitzer paid off. An April interview with Vice President Mike Pence stands as one of the most thorough interrogations of the entire pandemic — as Blitzer fiercely grilled Pence over Trump’s dismissive Covid response in the early days of what was already a national health crisis. Since then, Blitzer has done much to carry CNN’s coverage on the Trump administration’s pandemic response. And he also gets tough with both sides — as evidenced by a remarkable October interview in which he pressed Nancy Pelosi over Congress’ inability to expedite Covid relief talks. And while John King got raves for his work on the magic wall during the election, Blitzer proved to be a perfect dance partner — setting up his colleague to shine at every turn.
43. Joy Reid
Joy Reid earned a coveted spot on MSNBC’s roster this year, replacing Chris Matthews and becoming the first Black woman to host a weeknight show on cable news. The Reid Out’s debut night topped the 7 p.m. time slot, drawing an impressive 2.6 million viewers. Her previous show, AM Joy, was already a must-watch for many liberals, but Reid’s voice proved even more relevant amid the 2020 news cycle. Once dubbed a “heroine of the resistance” by the New York Times, Reid pursued her dedication to covering the intersection of race and justice as Black Lives Matter demonstrations erupted across the nation. The anchor has not just provided headline making on-air analysis, she has also introduced the country to an impressive and diverse roster of up-and-coming guests. Reid earned her spot on the main desk for MSNBC’s election night coverage, undoubtedly a nod from network brass that Joy Reid is here to stay.
42. Jonathan Karl
ABC/Randy Sager
The Chief White House Correspondent for ABC News remained a fixture of the briefing room this year by generating as many news making answers as anyone. Jonathan Karl’s most remarkable moment came over the summer, when he asked President Trump why he lied to the American people about the threat of coronavirus. (Trump’s private comments that he was deliberately downplaying the virus in public so as not to create a panic had just been exposed by Bob Woodward.) Karl, who had refrained from accusing Trump of lying for years, confronted the president in a stunning moment that stood out in an era marked by such scenes. The veteran ABC News journalist has been appropriately critical of dishonesty from White House press secretaries — he compared them to Baghdad Bob in an interview with Mediaite — but has also called out fellow reporters who see it as their job to oppose Trump. The cherry on top of a good year: Karl wrote a bestselling book, Front Row at the Trump Show.
41. Rush Limbaugh
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2020 was a year of ups and downs for Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio host who commands an almost unparalleled audience. In February, President Trump awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a spectacular ceremony at the State of the Union address. Days before, the 69-year-old radio titan had been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Limbaugh has been on the air since 1988, and in those decades his pairing of shock-jock antics and right wing rhetoric changed radio and amassed an audience millions-strong. Limbaugh also paved the way for Trump, making for a mutually beneficial relationship. Days after the president tested positive for Covid-19 in October, he chose Limbaugh’s show to host a “virtual rally”. And in 2020, Limbaugh consistently downplayed the dangers of coronavirus as a means of defending Trump’s response to it. Since the election, Limbaugh has tried mightily to defend Trump — without fully embracing his voting conspiracy theories. Bottom line, when Rush talks, many, many conservatives listen.
40. Jeffrey Goldberg
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The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief proved powerful both in front of and behind the curtain in 2020. In his capacity overseeing the famed magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg helped add more than 700,000 subscriptions in 2020 — vastly outpacing internal projections. That was thanks in no small part to the magazine’s unparalleled coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, courtesy of writers like Ed Yong, whose work has drawn industry-wide acclaim. Goldberg also brought a splashy new hire on board in former Wired editor-in-chief Nicholas Thompson. But Goldberg made his biggest splash with a story of his own — a bombshell report on President Trump’s private disparagement of America’s war dead. Goldberg drew fire for the story, it should be noted, as it has been denied by a throng of Trump officials speaking on the record. He stood by it, and the report drew millions of readers and dominated the news cycle for days between the initial public outrage and the subsequent fallout when the story was corroborated in part by Fox News.
39. Jonathan Swan
The young Aussie on the Trump beat at Axios might have been 2020’s most meme’d man in news. That dubious distinction comes thanks to a one-on-one interview Jonathan Swan had with Trump, which produced a series of incredibly viral screencaps. While the memes were hilarious, that’s not why Swan is on this list. His interview with Trump was a masterclass, hailed as one of the best interviews of the Trump presidency. Held months into the coronavirus pandemic, a crisis in which Trump refused to admit the deadly reality, the interview showcased the president being subjected to a relentless inquisitor. Trump’s repeated attempts to downplay the pandemic fell flat against Swan’s follow-ups, delivered with a candid — if exasperated — tone rarely seen in news. Swan made a name for himself during the Trump administration as a relentless scoop-hunter rivaling the best reporters on the White House beat. This thrilling Trump interview cemented a plum legacy as one of 2020’s most influential in news.
38. Lester Holt
After his wild 2017 sit-down with President Trump, the NBC News anchor never got another crack at the current commander in chief. But Lester Holt showed he won’t be similarly frozen out by the new administration — as he landed the first televised interview with Joe Biden following his election victory. Holt also interviewed Biden in October at a town hall in Miami, scoring NBC the best town hall combined ratings of the 2020 election cycle. Although coming in second to ABC’s World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News was still a major part of the network news renaissance — consistently drawing impressive ratings throughout 2020. Holt, who often added empathetic commentary to his broadcasting this year (a fitting touch), led Nightly News to reach an average of 8.27 million viewers. That’s an enormous audience. Despite superb years from Savannah Guthrie and Kristen Welker, and despite the considerable clout of Chuck Todd, Lester Holt is still the face of NBC News.
37. John Berman and Alisyn Camerota
CNN has its own Dynamic Duo to draw morning viewers in: New Day co-hosts John Berman and Alisyn Camerota. The show competes against opinion-heavy entries from Fox News and MSNBC, with three hours of news-heavy content, high-profile interviews with newsmakers, and panels that are populated by the kinds of journalists and commentators who make up Mediaite’s Most Influential.
But the hosts also bring their own talents to the table with incisive and at times adversarial questioning, and heavy doses of personality. Berman brings a loose and cutting wit to his broadcasting, while Camerota offers unsparing commentary when it’s called for, and often serves as a sort of surrogate for the audience in her reactions to the show’s guests — all with a dash of her own wit.
The result is a show that kick-starts the news cycle each day.
36. Neil Cavuto
Neil Cavuto has remained a steady hand and ubiquitous presence on both Fox News and its business-minded sister network Fox Business in a tumultuous year. He’s a straight-shooting news veteran who regularly calls out Democrats but has also been critical of the president, holding his feet to the fire when appropriate in a manner reminiscent of his old colleague Shepard Smith. Cavuto has called out Trump’s alarming statements on the coronavirus, his penchant for conspiracy theories, and more recently refused to show Kayleigh McEnany live because of the misinformation she was spewing about the election.
“Unless she has more details to back that up, I can’t in good countenance continue showing this,” Cavuto said after cutting away.
The furious response that decision drew from viewers — and even hosts at his own network — demonstrated how valuable a stand it was against Trump’s attempts to overturn the election. Fox News will continue to continue its dominance well into the Biden administration, and it’s important to have people like Cavuto at the helm — people who can be relied on not to just tell the audience what they want to hear, but what is actually happening.
