Mediaite’s Most Influential in News Media 2023
55. Dana Bash
CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash had a series of must-watch moments this year in her roles as the weekday anchor of Inside Politics and weekend anchor for State of the Union. Her big year ensured that when CNN sought moderators for its Republican primary debate days before the Iowa Caucuses in January, it looked no further than Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. From her incredulous reaction to former Vice President Mike Pence shrugging off Trump’s threats of violence after one of his indictments, conducting real-time fact check of Vivek Ramaswamy during a post-debate interview, to a fiery clash with a Trump attorney, to confronting Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu about the national security failures that preceded the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Bash once again delivered a year of fearless interviews. Earlier this month, Bash’s sparring with Rep. Pramila Jayapal over the sexual violence committed by Hamas as the congresswoman drew widespread (and bipartisan) condemnation made headlines. Even Fox & Friends effusively praised Bash for her handling of the interview. When Fox lauds an MSNBC or CNN host, you know they have made their mark.
54. Chris Cuomo
2023 was the year Chris Cuomo truly rebounded from the thump of his CNN firing back in 2021. Now a prime time anchor at the new cable network NewsNation, Cuomo delivers a blend of straight-talking commentary and tough interviews with newsmakers that would make any cable news show envious. He showcases various voices in the entertainment, media, and political worlds, including almost all of the GOP presidential candidates, General David Petraeus, movie director Tyler Perry — and former Fox host Bill O’Reilly is a regular sparring partner. Cuomo has also taken this year to open up about the mental health struggles he faced following his departure from CNN. Lately, on his NewsNation show, Cuomo has earned plaudits for his coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, which has included interviews with military and political leaders on both sides. One Hamas spokesperson walked off his set because Cuomo reported on the atrocities committed by the terror group. His most powerful moment may have come in December, when he delivered a monologue on the atrocities committed by Hamas after watching a screening of the Oct. 7 attack put together by the IDF. That commentary has already been viewed millions of times on various social media platforms. He’s also achieved multi-platform success, thanks to his popular podcast The Chris Cuomo Project and with NewsNation’s ratings growing rapidly, Cuomo will once again be a media force to be reckoned with heading into 2024.
53. Mehdi Hasan
Mehdi Hasan burnished his reputation as one of the toughest interrogators on cable news this year. The MSNBC host turned his Sunday show and program on NBC streaming platform Peacock into must-watch television for tough debates and outspoken progressive commentary. Hasan, an Oxford-educated journalist, also turned his gift for verbal sparring into a New York Times bestseller, Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking, which was published in February. The end of the year proved turbulent for Hasan, however. His fierce and swift denunciations of Israel after Oct. 7 drew criticism, and in December MSNBC announced that his Sunday show as well as his program on Peacock were canceled. Even without his own shows, Hasan still commands influence: not only will he remain at MSNBC, but he also boasts a mighty audience of 1.4 million followers on X, where he weighs in without filter on politics and world affairs.
52. Clay Travis
OutKick founder Clay Travis followed up a breakout year in 2022 with an arguably bigger year in 2023. Travis brought on commentator Charly Arnolt to his sports and politics website after she left her role as backup host on ESPN’s First Take. Months later, OutKick announced activist Riley Gaines would be launching a new podcast exclusively through them. With this new talent at his disposal, Travis debuted the Sunday prime time show OutKick on Fox in August, where he touches on a wide variety of political issues. Additionally, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – tasked with succeeding The Rush Limbaugh Show – has been a big success and hosted some of the most prominent figures in politics today, including Sen. Ted Cruz and former President Donald Trump. Travis also published American Playbook: A Guide to Winning Back the Country from the Democrats, his bestselling book to date. When you both host a highly-rated show and run a growing news business, that’s true influence.
51. Lawrence O’Donnell
For the first time since 2019, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell beat CNN in the 25-54 age demo at 10 p.m. for the year. It was also the show’s 14th win in total yearly viewers over the rival network – thanks in large part to extensive coverage of Donald Trump’s legal woes, which will continue to be a ratings bonanza for MSNBC in 2024. Far from the most animated cable news presenter, O’Donnell nonetheless has an incisive ability to channel viewers’ mockery, disgust, and outright revulsion regarding the villains of the day. He’s also not afraid to throw around the occasional superlative when he feels it suits the moment, such as when he identified “the single most humiliating letter ever received.” That his commentary is calmly delivered does not make its contents any less acerbic and so expect much more of it heading into the 2024 campaign.
50. Jeffrey Goldberg
The Atlantic had an impressive year, in no small part thanks to the leadership of Jeffrey Goldberg, its editor in chief. The recipe for success has been consistent: high-quality essays and major reported features. The Atlantic has emerged as the place to read smart coverage of a wide variety of subjects, whether it’s the Israel-Hamas war or the personalities and businesses that make up this list. Indeed, Tim Alberta’s devastating profile of Chris Licht is widely seen as the catalyst for his ouster as the head of CNN. Goldberg contributes his own stellar reporting as well. In October, John Kelly confirmed Goldberg’s 2020 bombshell about Trump calling American soldiers who were wounded or died on the battlefield “suckers” and “losers.” And the iconic magazine is opening the new year with a big swing. Its first issue is an ambitious project, “If Trump Wins,” entirely dedicated to examining what a second Trump presidency would look like. Goldberg tapped 24 contributors to tackle the concept, including George Packer writing on what a new Trump presidency would mean for journalism and Mark Leibovich on what it would mean for America’s character.
49. Chris Hayes
This year, All In celebrated 10 years on MSNBC, where its host Chris Hayes has been a mainstay for even longer. Over that time, he has been a reliable critic of Republican politicians – a facet of his commentary that was turbocharged by the Trump era. Four times a week, Hayes offers incredulous reactions and the occasional schadenfreude wherever perceived ineptitude by conservatives rears its head. In September, the show scaled back to four nights a week, giving him more time to host live events and work on his hit podcast, Why Is This Happening? That show often does deep dives into subjects that are rare on cable news, but are nonetheless of particular interest to the host. The episodes typically feature Hayes and an expert geeking out on topics such as the origins of the universe, e-bikes, and sports betting. Social media doom-scrollers can find him on X (at least for now), where he has more than two million followers.
48. Jim Acosta
In another year of upheaval at CNN, chief domestic correspondent and anchor Jim Acosta remained a staple as one of its best known — and most polarizing — hosts. The network’s chairman and CEO Chris Licht was ousted in June, but not before his relaunched morning show stumbled, Don Lemon was fired, and major chunks of CNN’s schedule went through multiple shakeups. Throughout it all, Acosta remained in his spot as a core part of CNN’s weekend lineup, as the literal and figurative anchor of the network’s coverage for several hours straight on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons. And the ratings bore out the “ain’t broke, don’t fix” approach network brass took to his time slot, with Acosta regularly winning multiple hours among the core 24-54 demo, and even sweeping all seven of his programming hours at one point in August. Acosta scored those ratings by serving up dependable doses of pointed left-leaning commentary and inquisitive interviews with leading figures from the right and left. For political junkies looking for some attitude with their news, Acosta’s show reliably gave them their fix.
47. Laura Ingraham
Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA. Sipa via AP Images.
The last year brought unforeseen changes to the Fox News prime time, but network veteran Laura Ingraham survived the storm. After the ousting of the former cable ratings king, Tucker Carlson, rumors circulated that Fox would implement a massive shakeup to their opinion time slots, with some speculation that Ingraham would be joining her former colleague on the unemployment line. However, the network issued a statement dismissing the rumors but eventually moved the conservative firebrand down to 7 p.m. while Greg Gutfeld replaced her at 10 p.m. Throughout 2023, Ingraham has remained one of the top-rated cable news hosts in her new slot while providing influential commentary to conservative cable watchers who feel liberals are trying to ruin the world… and the Republican primary. Over the summer, while most Fox anchors were following in Murdoch’s lead to praise Ron DeSantis for his anti-woke stances, Ingraham went after the Florida governor for complaining about Bud Light and Disney rather than focusing on the economy. Ingraham’s consistent presence at Fox and popular nighttime commentary make her a formidable conservative voice in cable programming heading into 2024.
46. Kaitlan Collins
What a whirlwind year it has been for Kaitlan Collins. After leaving her post as a White House reporter back in 2022, she joined CNN This Morning as part of a trio that included Poppy Harlow and Don Lemon. That experiment lasted about six months, crashing and burning when Lemon was dismissed by the network. CNN followed that up by anointing Collins the moderator of a town hall with Trump. While it wasn’t necessarily Collins’ fault, the event, for many reasons, was a disaster for CNN. The second half of the year has been a lot smoother for Collins, who was rescued from the tumult and given her own prime time show – The Source. There were some skeptics even before the program debuted in July. After all, Collins made her name as a star White House reporter before she was shoehorned into a morning show chair. Now she’s a nightly news host? It’s early still, and the ratings have like the rest of CNN been soft, but Collins has proven her chops. Thanks to a steady diet of highly notable guests, a proficiency in tough interrogations, real-time fact-checking, and a low tolerance for evasion and nonsense, Collins has established The Source as a great source of news and notable headlines.
