Mediaite’s (Best of the Rest) Most Influential in News Media 2017
Josh Dawsey
Still in his 20s, Dawsey raised his profile considerably in 2017. Starting the year at Politico, the young reporter nabbed a ton of major scoops while covering the West Wing, largely about the palace intrigue at the White House. At the same time, he also broke major news related to the Russia probe and Trump administration policy decisions. His reporting caught the eye of the Washington Post, who grabbed him up in November to replace the CNN-bound Abby Phillips. (JB)
Ashley Feinberg
Ashley Feinberg was among the first reporters to uncover James Comey’s Twitter account, and if her online sleuthing is any sign of her investigative abilities, we can expect more from her in the future. The former Gizmodo writer jumped to Wired then to Huffington Post recently, where she has already covered everything from the hard political news to the lighter side of the media business. But her finest work is her Twitter feed where she amplifies the well-informed, quick-witted and ironically detached commentary that defines her generation. (KM)
Joshua Green
Green’s Devil’s Bargain was at the top of any politico’s list of must-reads for 2017. The insider play-by-play of Steve Bannon’s rise to the top of the 2016 Trump campaign, threaded a narrow needle by offering reliable reporting that was wildly entertaining and insightful as Bannon’s political influence grew (and waned) over the course of 2017. A frequent commentator on CNN – where he became a paid contributor this year – Green is a consistent source of concise, informed and reliably insightful comments at a time when those characteristics are increasingly valuable. (CH)
Rosie Gray
Gray may have reached some level of fame for being on the ground during Occupy Wall Street, but it is her reporting this year at The Atlantic that has put her on our map. She specializes in what can only be called “medium form” journalism, operating somewhere between reliance on the ever-changing news cycle and long-form content that you put on your “to read” and then never actually think about again (though she can knock these out, too.) She’s also conducted herself admirably as White House correspondent for the network, which is no easy feat in today’s world. (LB)
Kasie Hunt
You wouldn’t be wrong if you asked how could Kasie Hunt have not made it into the top 75? Since October, she has hosted MSNBC’s new weekend program Kasie DC, getting interviews with newsmakers like Paul Ryan and Kirsten Gillibrand. If you have two minutes to spare, search and watch the clip that briefly went viral in November when she broke down how filling harassment claims on Capitol Hill works. (JF)
Griff Jenkins
Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins has moved on from his days of just radio production for the network, as he continues to receive more and more on-air time with America’s most-watched cable news channel. The conservative Washington-based reporter has covered everything from cooking ribs to loud, anti-Trump protests in D.C. He has a voice that is increasingly being heard. (CE)
Steve Kornacki
Viewers of MSNBC get to see a lot of Steve Kornacki as is the multi-implement swiss army knife of the cable news channel. Whether he’s working he touch-sensitive monitor on an election night, filling in for a vacationing prime-time host, or providing clever insights during a panel discussion, Kornacki has that rare skill of almost never saying something regrettable. If he were a major league baseball player, we’d call him a “five-tool” prospect and with the mid-terms coming, we are guessing that in 2018 he will be back on the main most influential list. (CH)
Roland Martin
TV One may have just canceled Martin’s morning program, NewsOne Now, but never count this guy out. He has a big and boisterous personality, smart and passionate points of view and an immense Twitter following. His show, aimed at a predominantly African-American audience, got decent ratings, it just wasn’t enough to offset Morning Joe and the sea of other competitors. The last episode will air on Dec. 21, so you still have time to prove to the network that they made a big mistake since he is remaining on in some capacity, with TV One General Manager Michelle Rice saying “We will continue our long-standing partnership.” If you are counting Roland out, you do so at your peril. (LB)
Seth Meyers
Like most late-night comedians, Seth Meyers thrived under the Trump presidency. Over the past year, the Late Night host has become one of the president’s most brutal critics. With his lengthy, in-depth “closer look” segments, he dissects nearly every Trump-related controversy and dishes out biting insult after insult. And he was one of the very first people to ask anyone from the White House about the infamous Trump dossier. While his network colleague Jimmy Fallon takes it easy when it comes to politics, Meyers goes in for the kill. (JW)
Olivia Nuzzi
Olivia Nuzzi established herself as one of the breakout media stars of the 2016 election, providing informal and reliable reporting on the campaign trail for The Daily Beast — as well as a series of impressive profiles of characters from inside Trump-world. The 24-year-old reporter took her wit to New York magazine in 2017, where she now serves as the publication’s first Washington correspondent. At New York, Nuzzi continues to peel back the curtain on the circus that has now made it to the White House, always seeming to find herself in the weird place at the right time — whether it’s the Breitbart headquarters or Bo Dietl’s NYC mayoral campaign offices.(AM)
Alexandra Petri
The Washington Post columnist skillfully uses her background in comedy and injects a tad of satire into her work, weighing in on virtually anything. Aside from running the newspaper’s blog “The ComPost,” she also runs a very active Twitter account, where she shares her humor to her 100,000 followers one tweet at a time. In an age where newspapers seem to become an archaic medium, Petri brings witty freshness back to the WaPo. (JW)
