Mediaite’s Most Influential in News Media 2025
45. Don Lemon
(Evan Agostini/Invision/AP photo)
What a difference a year makes. Just as Don Lemon rose from the ashes of his firing from CNN and his snafu with Elon Musk — the subject of a still-ongoing lawsuit — the host surged again in 2025 amid intense competition between independent journalists. Since he appeared on our list last year, Lemon has more than tripled subscriptions to his YouTube channel, which have surpassed 1 million and counting. That’s not accounting for his presence on other platforms, including the ascendant Substack.
The rebooted resistance to President Donald Trump obviously hasn’t hurt, as Lemon is a reliable source of commentary on the president’s chaotic second term, as well as a destination for guests who express their strenuous opposition to Trump. Lemon’s roster of guests mixes Democratic political stars including former Vice President Kamala Harris, with high-profile media figures. But undergirding all of Lemon’s success is his gift for provocative commentary. Even after all this time, cable news can’t seem to quit Don Lemon — his name is regularly mentioned by Fox News hosts looking to pick apart his takes.
Lemon doesn’t appear to miss being on cable news either. He does shows everywhere from movie premieres to man on the street interviews, and he just looks, well, happy doing it. If this year is any indication, the sky’s the limit for Lemon in 2026.
44. Tony Dokoupil
With so much upheaval already underway at CBS, and so much more on the horizon, Tony Dokoupil is poised to be the network’s biggest star when the dust settles. In 2025, he brought a level of combative energy to CBS Mornings, tussling not only with figures on both sides of the aisle, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to President Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, but even his own colleagues. Indeed, Dokoupil showed some serious gumption by criticizing Stephen Colbert on his own network and defending the network’s decision to fire him.
That moment seemed to show how Dokoupil is viewed internally — as he seems to clearly embody the more straightforward and maybe more balanced tone that new boss Bari Weiss wants to implement. And while Weiss reportedly tried to chase down unattainable stars at other networks to be the signature face of CBS News — amid the recent departure of CBS Evening News co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois — she quickly realized that her best option was in-house. Dokoupil’s reign behind the CBS News anchor desk begins in January. And his influence — inside the network and out — figures only to grow.
43. Will Cain
It’s been a breakout year for Will Cain — Fox News’s dynamic 4 p.m. ET host, as he transitioned from co-hosting the network’s top-rated Fox & Friends Weekend to launching The Will Cain Show in January. The new show started off with a bang, scoring the highest-rated daytime debut in Fox history with 3.5 million total viewers and 451,000 in the adults 25-54 demo — surpassing the prior time slot average by a whopping 106 percent in total viewers and 128 percent in the key demo.
Cain’s broadcast originates from an innovative, podcast-inspired Texas studio that infuses the program with a casual, YouTube-esque vibe blending news, sports, and unfiltered listener calls. Maybe most impressive is that despite the fact that he’s not based in New York or DC, he’s had no trouble getting major Trump-world figures to make the pilgrimage south to sit down with him in studio.
He’s also proved to be more than willing to go toe-to-toe with guests on the other side — which makes his show stand out from so many others in cable news where only a single point of view is represented. Those bookings have made for good, compelling TV — and they’ve made Will Cain a major star on the rise.
42. Wall Street Journal Editor Emma Tucker, and New York Times Editor Joe Kahn
(Evan Agostini/AP photo/Axios)
Emma Tucker and Joe Kahn are indisputably two of the most influential media leaders in America. They kicked off their tenure as editors in chief at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, respectively, in 2022 – and 2025 was a monumental year for them both, as each published massive stories which have altered the public’s perception of Trump’s second term.
There are bombshells, and then there are nuclear explosions. A July 17 article published at the Journal is the latter, and unquestionably one of the biggest stories the paper has released during Emma Tucker’s stewardship. The article by reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo described an album allegedly compiled by Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell for his 50th birthday in 2003. Among the birthday book’s eyebrow-raising contents was a page allegedly penned by Trump with a suggestive poem and bawdy drawing of a nude female figure.
Trump furiously denied he had written the note or drawing, and sued the Journal – but the birthday book was included in documents Epstein’s estate turned over in response to a Congressional subpoena, including Trump’s page.
A stunning turn of events, to be sure, and it paid off in a gigantic wave of traffic for the Journal, one of its best-performing articles in its modern history.
Kahn, meanwhile, has presided over the Times’ continued growth and accolades, adding to both the paper’s profits and list of Pulitzers.
Times reporters had their share of important blockbuster stories, of course, but a decision outside the publication may prove to have one of the biggest long-term impacts for not just the Times, but the U.S. media industry as a whole.
When Trump sued the Times for $15 billion in September alleging the paper defamed him ahead of the 2024 election, observers wondered if the Gray Lady would bend the knee like Paramount, ABC, and other media companies had in the face of the president’s assault, both in the courts and in the rage he can invoke in his supporters.
But the Times, under Kahn’s leadership, stood firm, and a judge tossed the lawsuit just a few days later in a scathing order that eviscerated the complaint as “decidedly improper and impermissible” with a “tedious and burdensome aggregation” of “many, often repetitive, and laudatory (toward President Trump) but superfluous allegations,” that were “persistently alleged in abundant, florid, and enervating detail.”
And beyond even standing its ground, The Times punched back at the Trump administration as well — filing its own lawsuit against the Pentagon over its purge of longstanding members of the Pentagon Press Corps.
Taken together, the approach by the Journal and the Times to face down the legal threats from the Trump administration is evidence of a stalwart belief that there is value in defending the First Amendment – and influence far bigger than their individual publications.
But beyond the high profile fights, there is also the day-to-day reporting oftentimes with three to five reporters on a byline doing tedious but incredibly important and compelling work that no other media organization can, or at least will. Neither publication is remotely “failing” as the president occasionally alleges. In fact, both are thriving and setting journalistic standards for so many others to follow.
41. Andy McCarthy
The former federal prosecutor and conservative legal commentator who writes for National Review — in addition to appearing on Fox News as a contributor, was kept plenty busy in 2025 — despite the fact that Donald Trump was not on trial. McCarthy boasts conservative bona fides galore, which makes his frequent – but far from reflexive – criticism of Trump and his administration all the more notable.
And with Trump upping the ante in the first year of his second term in office by attempting to expand the power of the executive branch, seeking retribution against his enemies, and much more, McCarthy’s voice is viewed by many as an essential one at helping news consumers and newsmakers alike sort the false legal alarms from the real ones.
He’s made MAGA die-hards cringe with his take on everything from Signalgate to the ill-fated James Comey indictment. Agree or disagree with him, McCarthy is focused on law not politics at the most influential network in the cable news business. His unflinching willingness to call balls and strikes has made his opinion one of the most important and influential in all of media.
40. Tom Llamas
Tom Llamas has quickly ascended to one of the most coveted and impactful jobs in all media in 2025 — as he was named the anchor of NBC Nightly News. Llamas succeeded Lester Holt in June — becoming the first Latino to helm a nightly news broadcast, and only the fourth anchor of NBC Nightly News in 40 years.
Llamas’s first six months on the job saw him nipping at the heels of ABC’s David Muir — as he looks to close the ratings gap between his No. 2-rated show and ABC’s long dominant World News Tonight. And Llamas has undeniably made some inroads in a short period of time, closing the gap in the key 25-54 age demographic by 55% – ending the year with the smallest deficit NBC has had to ABC in that category in six years.
And NBC’s star isn’t trying to do it by just sitting in a cushy studio either. In the latter part of 2025, he anchored his newscast from everywhere from Israel to Texas to Alaska. Llamas also landed a major interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to discuss the future of his country’s nuclear program. He has also found new ways to reach viewers where they are, launching an investigative series called “The Cost of Denial,” which reports on the financial struggles and emotional toll of insurance companies denying coverage. Segments that have repeatedly resulted in insurance companies reversing their decisions.
While Muir remains the undisputed king of nightly news, 2025 made clear that Llamas is a rival to be reckoned with.
39. Maria Bartiromo
The indefatigable Maria Bartiromo – the anchor of Mornings with Maria and Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street on Fox Business Network, as well as Sunday Morning Futures on Fox News Channel – has taken on yet another unofficial job in the second Trump administration. In a crowded morning space filled with a wide variety of choices for news consumers, Bartiromo’s programs are the places to be when Trump’s friends in Congress and employees in the executive branch are bidding for his attention. Trump’s affinity for Bartiromo aids her in crafting lineups full of heavy-hitting guests – including the president himself – that often rival and even exceed those of her Fox News peers. The lineups are particularly striking on Sunday mornings — when the biggest guests often opt for an appearance on Bartiromo’s show, rather than the stalwarts on the broadcast networks.
The president isn’t the only one watching. Bartiromo’s weekday morning ratings consistently outstrip those of her major CNBC competitor, Squawk Box, and her Friday Wall Street show boasted a 61% lead over CNBC in the second quarter of 2025. What’s more is that with the economy dominating headlines once again, Bartiromo’s agenda-setting ability for the day on Mornings with Maria and the week on Sunday Morning Futures is always apparent.
38. Martha MacCallum
(Evan Agostini/Invision/AP photo)
The anchors and hosts on this list routinely land big-name interviews. But Fox’s Martha MacCallum scored, arguably, the most surprising interview of 2025 when she sat down with soon-to-be New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The rising political star had been demonized on Fox’s air for months. But Mamdani felt he could not let the attacks go unanswered. And it was a testament to Martha MacCallum that, among all her colleagues, she was the one who reeled in the big fish.
A Fox News mainstay for over 20 years, Martha MacCallum continues to score top-tier interviews on a consistent basis. And that’s because her guests know she will be tough, but fair. She gave Zohran Mamdani the same treatment she’s given Trump officials like Kevin Hassett and Howard Lutnick — both of whom she has challenged on the state of the economy. She isn’t just an anchor, she is a journalist.
The Story, hosted by MacCallum, remains the top-viewed show in its 3 p.m. ET time slot — regularly pulling in ratings just below 2 million average viewers, putting her near the top ten of all shows on cable news. She often beats all of CNN’s hosts, including those in prime time.
There were just a few elections in 2025, but when it came time to cover them, Martha MacCallum was on the anchor desk right next to her longtime colleague Bret Baier. And that’s exactly where she’s going to be when Americans hit the polls in November 2026 and beyond. Whether it’s a major event, an election night, or a breaking story, Martha MacCallum is one of the top faces on the top-rated news channel for all of the biggest moments.
37. Mark Levin
On June 4, Mark Levin reportedly sat down for a private lunch with President Trump. Less than three weeks later, the United States launched strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran. Many observers believe those two events were not unrelated.
The man dubbed “The Great One” by his Fox News colleague Sean Hannity has proved to be incredibly influential — particularly on the Israel-Hamas war. He has made his beliefs on the subject very clear. And for the most part, U.S. policy has adhered to his views — and perhaps even been shaped by those views — rather than the views of many others in the MAGA camp including his now-heated rival Tucker Carlson.
And that’s because those views get aired on some highly visible platforms. His Fox News show that dominates its time slot on Sunday nights, consistently racking up well over a million viewers per episode. His podcast regularly cracks the top 50 on the charts. And his latest book — promoted by President Trump — was yet another best seller. This to say nothing of the syndicated radio show he hosts every weeknight which reaches millions of listeners across America.
There is an ideological civil war brewing among MAGA heavyweights in media over Israel. The battle lines are still being drawn, but Mark Levin is clearly one of the leaders in the fight to shape the movement’s long-term vision and he seems to be winning.
36. Jen Psaki
Jen Psaki was influential in media long before the debut edition of her MSNBC show Inside With Jen Psaki in March of 2023. As President Joe Biden’s first press secretary, Psaki’s razor-sharp exchanges with reporters turned daily briefings into must-see TV.
But those fireworks with the likes of Fox’s Peter Doocy and others are a distant memory, while her new show The Briefing With Jen Psaki has become the anchor for MS NOW’s weeknight lineup. And with due respect to Alex Wagner, who took the first swing at a time slot sharing arrangement with Rachel Maddow, the network’s viewers seem much more accepting of this 9 p.m. co-tenant.
Psaki sets the tone with newsmaking interviews of key Democratic officials, activists, influencers, experts but what sets The Briefing With Jen Psaki apart are the host’s commentaries — which mix pragmatic Democratic politics and scathing takedowns which often serve to set the stage for the Democratic party more broadly. As Trump’s second term has progressed, those commentaries have taken on a more aggressive edge that doesn’t figure to soften anytime soon. You can bet that, throughout 2026, Democratic campaign managers from across the country will be tuned in regularly at 9 p.m. for guidance on what party insiders will be buzzing about next.
NEXT PAGE: See who made the cut for our #35-26 selections!
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