Mediaite’s Most Influential in News Media 2022
45. Geraldo Rivera
Legendary journalist Geraldo Rivera’s entertaining on-air rivalry with Fox News contributor Dan Bongino cooled a bit in 2022. Our eardrums are grateful. But one of the network’s few resident Democrats remained an influential voice of dissent in a year where the network dominated. As a regular on The Five, the most-watched show on cable news, he generated headlines by frequently sparring with his conservative colleagues. His gift for sparking debates that end in fireworks ensured Geraldo booked plenty of air time in 2022. He engaged in sometimes heated exchanges with his co-hosts but was quick to defend his employer against allegations it supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Geraldo also challenged the Biden White House, took on Fox News host Tucker Carlson and shared a very entertaining anecdote involving psychedelic drugs and UFOs. At age 79, Rivera still has his fastball.
44. Lawrence O’Donnell
On MSNBC’s The Last Word, host Lawrence O’Donnell’s biting commentary and sharp political insights remained a draw for the network’s reliably liberal audience. So much so that in the 10 p.m. hour, O’Donnell often nearly triples CNN in total viewers. With MSNBC reshuffling, and Rachel Maddow cutting down her hours, O’Donnell helped the network continue to corner the market on tackling the Republican Party at night. Through passionate and unrelenting takedowns of Trump and his voters, the host attracted people seeking a place to revel in the mounting legal troubles of the country’s 45th president. MSNBC’s prime time audience rewarded him by keeping his show competitive against Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. O’Donnell also helped the network chronicle wins for the Democratic Party in a crucial election year. When Democrats out-performed expectations in the midterms, the veteran host was there to put things into their proper historical context (and celebrate the victory).
43. Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
It’s been another year on top of the ratings for Good Morning America, and that’s in large part thanks to these two charming and welcoming co-hosts. It wasn’t that long ago that the Today Show was the undisputed morning show champion. That has changed on Roberts, Strahan, and George Stephanopolous’ watch. And year after year, they prove it’s no fluke. Roberts celebrated her 20th year on the show back in April — and it did not feel like hyperbole when Stephanopoulos called her “the heart of GMA” during a touching on air tribute. Roberts’s warmth and authenticity helps her land coveted interviews with media-shy subjects, like her November primetime sitdown with Michelle Obama. Strahan lands some big one-on-ones too, including a post-prison sitdown with Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarlane, and a chat with Carl Nassib, the first active NFL player to come out as gay. He also remains a key cog in another top show, Fox NFL Sunday — arguably the best studio show in sports this side of TNT’s Inside the NBA. The common thread between Roberts and Strahan is versatility: news, sports, entertainment, they do it all. That also makes them two of the most famous people in America and they have earned it in their own ways.
42. Jim Cramer
There’s only one person in financial news big enough to command his own studio on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to film his show after the close of trading — and that’s the legendary CNBC analyst, who began taping Mad Money from the NYSE in July. But in 2022, with several gigantic business stories at the top of the news, Jim Cramer broke through with mainstream viewers as well. Most notably, the CNBC analyst didn’t sugarcoat things when crypto began its slide — and looked prescient as that market began to tank. His accurate prediction gave him added weight to take down FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried, which he memorably did in a fiery rant. Another prediction Cramer nailed was the sudden firing of Disney CEO Bob Chapek — who was let go just days after Cramer called for his ouster. It was all part of a big year for the money maven. And sure, Cramer has his many detractors but that’s part of what makes him so significant. Love him or hate him, everyone is still talking about him.
41. Steve Kornacki
Virginia Sherwood/MSNBC
The 2022 midterm election was one of the biggest stories of the year, a messy compendium of races across the country with vast consequences. No one was as effective in sorting through the numbers to break down the results as Steve Kornacki, MSNBC and NBC’s indefatigable data guru. Thanks to a masterful command of the “Big Board”, Kornacki provided vital election analysis that kept viewers glued to MSNBC when the race for control over Congress became more competitive than expected. Who better to guide through the madness than everyone’s favorite eternally-caffeinated, khaki-wearing, number-crunching magician? His famed stamina extended beyond just election coverage this year. Kornacki proved his data analysis chops with NFL coverage and even commentary on the National Dog Show. He also added a podcast to his extensive resume, with The Revolution With Steve Kornacki, a fascinating six-episode series examining how Newt Gingrich steered Republicans to a House majority in the 1994 midterms for the first time in four decades — by pushing the partisanship that has come to define American politics.
40. Chris Hayes
With Rachel Maddow scaling back to Mondays only, Chris Hayes now helms the second-longest-running nightly show on MSNBC in prime time, behind The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell. In 2022, the All In host marked his ninth year in the 8 p.m. time slot, where he has provided incisive, if not wonkish, liberal commentary. That includes frequent takedowns of Fox News hosts, whose predictions of a “red wave” in the midterms he gleefully mocked. It would be a mistake to chalk up his influence squarely to his prime time show, however. Hayes is certainly Very Online, as evidenced by his 2.4 million followers on Twitter, where he has tweeted more than 160,000 times. He also hosts the podcast, Why Is This Happening? There, Hayes does freewheeling deep dives into topics for listeners who may find cable news wanting as a medium.
39. Margaret Brennan
Chris Usher/CBS
In 2022, Face the Nation made waves while expertly steered by Brennan, a longtime foreign affairs correspondent, with pivotal interviews and top name bookings. From America’s top doctor Anthony Fauci, former Vice President Mike Pence, and friends and foes from across the political aisle, all eagerly seek out airtime on the popular Sunday show. That’s not to say Brennan makes it easy for them: she’s become one of the toughest interrogators in the business. As a result, time and time again Face the Nation has beat out other Sunday competitors, garnering the most total viewers last season. Brennan landed the role in 2018 and since has made a name for herself with aggressive but fair questioning of today’s top newsmakers. Her unique background in business, politics and finance has allowed her to pave her own way on Sunday mornings.
38. ABC News chief Kim Godwin and CBS News co-presidents Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon
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ABC News President Kimberly Godwin and CBS News Co-Presidents Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon all began their current roles about a year and a half ago, and have shepherded their broadcast networks through a period of growth and upheaval in the news business, from the pandemic to the midterm elections — not to mention the ongoing challenges related to developing content for digital platforms.
Godwin made history as the first Black woman to head up a major broadcast network’s news division. She oversees editorial and business operations for ABC News’ marquee franchise programs like Good Morning America, World News Tonight, 20/20, The View, FiveThirtyEight, and This Week, as well as the network’s digital ventures.
Khemlani and McMahon were tapped as co-presidents for CBS News in April 2021. They immediately took on steering the company through a restructuring that combined CBS News with the local CBS stations around the country and CBS News Digital — including their 24/7 CBS News Streaming Network — in a newly-created unified business unit. The journalists under their watch continue to break major news stories, most recently with the report of the release of WBNA player Brittney Griner from a Russian prison
37. Chuck Todd
With Chuck Todd at the helm, Meet The Press, the longest running TV show in history, continues to make headlines thanks to major interviews and a sizable audience. Despite a wobbly start to the year – ABC’s This Week overtook MTP in the advertiser-coveted younger demographic last season – Todd is poised for a strong finish: in November, MTP marked its second straight month as the most watched Sunday show in the demo. Todd himself has remained a lightning rod, often making news by upsetting one political extreme or the other. Todd’s critics celebrated the end of his daily show on MSNBC, but the sunset of that program marked a new beginning for the man who has been at the helm of MTP for the last eight years: a daily show on NBC’s promising streaming service. Whether he’s offering tough but honest analysis about Democrats, serving as a key part of election coverage, or weighing in on shake-ups at the Supreme Court, Todd can always be counted on to not-so-subtly stir things up.
36. Joy Reid
Joy Reid has become one of the most influential Black women in the country thanks to the success of her MSNBC program The ReidOut, which often focuses on politics and racial inequality. In the month of November, The ReidOut built on its audience, averaging 1.3 million total viewers, its best monthly performance since May of 2021. Those numbers put the defiantly liberal news host ahead of the CNN competition by hundreds of thousands of viewers. That audience grows even bigger when you factor in the audience she attracts as a key figure in MSNBC’s coverage of elections and other breaking news moments. As the only Black woman to have her own prime time cable news show, Reid delivers news and commentary with an unsparing and provocative voice that has earned her fierce critics as well as passionate admirers. With the departures of Tiffany Cross and Zerlina Maxwell from MSNBC, it is a point of view that is more coveted than ever in a media universe that is becoming more and more diverse.
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