Mediaite’s Most Influential in News Media 2021
15. Don Lemon
Don Lemon joined CNN fifteen years ago, and has become an indispensable mainstay of the network’s prime time lineup. Currently, Lemon hosts two hours of coverage per night, no small feat in an age of shortened attention spans and microscopic news cycles.
In many ways, 2021 was an extension of Lemon’s 2020, as many of the same themes dominated the year. Former President Donald Trump was gone from the White House, but his ghost haunted every news cycle, while the Covid pandemic entered a new phase, and racial justice continued to be top of mind. Lemon delivered viewers provocative panels, and probing interviews with newsmakers throughout. And in 2021, in a vote of confidence from CNN, Lemon earned a new title for his show, which became Don Lemon Tonight. He also earned rave reviews and a number one debut for his best-selling book This Is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism.
Lemon’s influence only figures to grow in 2022 with the departure of Chris Cuomo, Lemon’s lead-in and frequent partner in between-show chats that made for some of the most memorable moments from either show.
14. Peter Doocy
Peter Doocy has been kicking around Fox News for far longer than you might have imagined, beginning his career a dozen years ago, at the dawn of the Obama administration. Before that, he was an occasional presence on his dad’s broadcasts. But 2021 was the year that Steve Doocy’s son shot, in influence, to the top of the media heap.
Doocy’s rise began in 2020 when he was assigned to cover the Democratic presidential primary race, an assignment that eventually landed him on the Biden campaign bus. Doocy’s provocative questioning and persistence made him the star of many a viral moment, aided by Joe Biden’s frequent jabs at the young reporter. When candidate Biden became President Biden, Doocy got a promotion to the White House press corps, where he has continued to draw attention through near-daily jousts with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and occasional crackling exchanges with the president himself. Despite the tense public skirmishes, Doocy has maintained a respectful relationship with Biden’s press shop. But the true measure of Doocy’s influence is in the way he shapes coverage of the Biden White House — on other networks. As even his critics point out, reporters from the major TV news outlets frequently follow Doocy’s lead, and turn his lines of questioning into full-fledged media narratives.
13. Joy Reid
If 2020 was Joy Reid’s coming out party, 2021 was the year she solidified her place as a major voice in cable news, and maybe the most liberal one at a network already known for being more liberal than the rest. As the only Black woman with her own primetime cable news show, Reid’s unique perspective distinguished her coverage of issues that defined 2021. 2021 saw a series of high-profile trials that dealt with racial justice, a heightened focus on voting rights, and the ever-unfolding saga of an insurrection that was fueled by far-right groups, and Reid was there every step of the way with provocative commentary that never failed to draw attention. Some of that attention was unwanted — Reid often dabbles in divisive rhetoric and was recently called out by Sarah Silverman (!) for buying into partisan misinformation. Reid was also is an outspoken critic of rival cable news network Fox News, over its coverage of the Capitol riots and the Covid-19 pandemic that continued to rage thanks to stubborn vaccine hesitancy. As with most of Fox’s rivals, Reid may not have had the eyeballs flocking to her show in 2021, but she certainly had tongues wagging with her commentary.
12. Greg Gutfeld
When Gutfeld! debuted on weeknights in April, liberal outlets panned the Fox News late-night comedy show as a dud. The New Republic went so far as to ask, “Is Gutfeld the worst show on television?” Nowadays, it’s Greg Gutfeld and his studio audience who are laughing. In August, he toppled network TV late-night king Stephen Colbert in the ratings. It was a remarkable coup for a cable news host who lacks the name recognition of Colbert or his rival Jimmy Fallon. “Fox News found a good thing,” said Bill Maher at the time. “They can make fun of liberals and they are doing it with great success.” Gutfeld continued to co-host The Five, where he cracks jokes and stirs the pot as much as one can in the 5 p.m. time slot without getting into too much trouble. The show has found surprising success in 2021, finishing October as the most-watched show in all of cable news — a remarkable feat for an afternoon broadcast.
11. Rachel Maddow
While her career may be in a transition of sorts, Rachel Maddow remains the political lodestar for progressives in this country. Need evidence of the 9 p.m. host’s influence? Ask any regular MSNBC viewer who they have to watch every day, and their answer of “Rachel” confirms not just her popularity but also the intimate relationship she has with her audience. Are Maddow’s ratings as strong as they were last year? No. But in a time when Democrats control the government, she still draws more than 2 million viewers a night — more than anyone else on MSNBC and CNN, and many on Fox.
Maddow took some knocks in 2021. A fresh reckoning over media coverage of the Steele dossier did not reflect kindly on Maddow’s breathless coverage of its salacious allegations. Nonetheless, Maddow’s show remains the unrivaled choice for big-name progressives who want to get the word out.
Much has been written about Maddow’s future at MSNBC, and her desire to reduce her intense schedule. If the reports are true — that her $30 million annual contract calls for her to stop hosting her nightly show and produce more long-form work instead — it is a sign of monumental influence. MSNBC needs Rachel Maddow, and they’re paying whatever it takes to keep her.
10. Jonathan Karl
Photo via ABC/Randy Sager
Jonathan Karl covered many major stories this year as ABC News chief Washington correspondent, but it’s the incredible reporting he dished out in his bestseller — Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show — and how that book propelled the news cycle for weeks that secured his spot so high up on this list. Karl’s years of experience covering politics served him well in researching the book, and he’s a talented writer, as illustrated by a fascinating excerpt that focused on a previously little-known Trump administration staffer, Johnny McEntee. Karl describes in vivid prose how the 29-year-old former college quarterback went from carrying the president’s bags when he traveled to having a shockingly influential role during the final weeks of Trump’s term. That’s far from the only stunning revelation in the book; Karl reported he had seen photos of Vice President Mike Pence in hiding on Jan. 6, taken by an official White House photographer, but Pence’s team refused to let him publish them. Trump lashed out in response, slamming Karl (after previously complimenting him) as a “third-rate reporter.” The former president’s ire only served to add to the buzz about the book — particularly when Karl produced stunning audio recordings from his interviews with the president, kicking a fresh news cycle into high gear. Karl now serves as co-anchor to George Stephanopoulos on This Week. But it’s his own reporting, rather than the network he works for, that made Karl such a star in 2021.
9. Matt Drudge
Evan Agostini/Getty Images
2021 may have had the least news we’ve seen about Matt Drudge in years. Media observers asked whether the reclusive media titan had finally handed over the reins of his eponymous site. Not so fast. Conservative former devotees claimed to have lost their love for him, after he lost his for Donald Trump. But just because fewer conservatives admit they read Drudge and many liberals continue to pretend they don’t care what he publishes, that doesn’t mean they’re telling the truth. Despite all the chatter, Drudge remains a behemoth, a digital media monster whose influence should never be understated. He still sends the kind of traffic that any website bows to receive.
That itself is a testament to the endurance of the Drudge Report. Even as social media pursues hegemony at breakneck speed, the old-fashioned link aggregating Drudge Report can still define a conversation with the mere act of story selection.
The big story of Matt Drudge began in 1998 over the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinksy affair. For his historic role in the saga, the secretive internet magnate was portrayed by Billy Eichner in this year’s Impeachment: American Crime Story. If that goes to show anything, it’s that Drudge has been influential for a long time. No matter what the tabloids speculate about him, the link king remains one of the primary forces behind what does and does not become news. Period.
8. Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity may have been supplanted at the top of the ratings by his lead-in Tucker Carlson, but his program remains the clear favorite of Trump-world personalities — and that alone makes him a dominant media player. As long as Donald Trump remains the leader of the Republican Party, Hannity is where you go to find out what he’s thinking — oftentimes, directly from the man himself. The Fox News host scored seven interviews with the former president in 2021.
But Sean Hannity did much more than just hand Trump a megaphone. The host’s early, vocal and frequent criticism of Mitch McConnell undoubtedly spurred Trump on to increase his own vitriol towards the Senate leader. In going after McConnell so pointedly, Hannity helped draw the battle lines for control of the GOP. And in the process, he has helped Trump retain his vise grip on the party.
As you might expect, the Fox host got raked over the coals following the revelation that he texted former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the attack on the Capitol. But whatever you may think of Hannity’s frantic message, if nothing else, it underscores the open line he still retains to the president’s inner circle.
Yes, Sean Hannity finds himself a few spots down on our list this year. But really, that speaks far more to Republicans being out of power than it does to Hannity’s standing on the Right. A red wave in the midterms, and Hannity could find himself right back on top in 2022.
7. George Stephanopoulos
Between co-anchoring Good Morning America and hosting This Week, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos seems to get more of the big exclusive interviews than anyone else. In 2021 he interviewed everyone from the president of the United States to Hollywood stars. He even took a turn as a Jeopardy! guest host.
His interview with President Joe Biden in March had multiple headline-generating moments, including the president’s reaction to the allegations against then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY). A later chat with Biden in August came in the immediate aftermath of America’s troubled withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and Stephanopoulos pressed the president on evacuating U.S. citizens and Afghan allies after the Taliban takeover. In November, he spoke to Vice President Kamala Harris, and wrapped the interview with her by getting her to go on the record about her and Biden’s plans for 2024.
Beyond the biggest presidential interviews of the year, Stephanopoulos has held multiple chats with Dr. Anthony Fauci, about the pandemic death toll and vaccines, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) regarding the Jan. 6 House Select Committee. He confronted Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) regarding the “Big Lie” about fraud in the 2020 election, Facebook executive Nick Clegg on Trump’s ban from Facebook, and the attorney for Brian Laundrie’s family after his remains were found. Earlier this month, Alec Baldwin sat down with Stephanopoulos for his first interview after the tragic shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the Rust film set, making for one of the most gripping moments in T.V. news this year.
