A Poynter Report special: the 2024 year in media

Good morning and welcome to a special edition of The Poynter Report.

Today, I look back at the year in media, and what a year it has been. A divisive election, turbulence at one of the nation’s legendary newspapers, controversial stoppages of presidential endorsements and the richest man in the world using his power and social media company to influence the election.

Before we move on, a quick note: This will be the final Poynter Report of 2024. We will return on Jan. 6 of next year to give you, as always, the latest in media news and analysis each and every weekday. Thanks for reading this year, and I look forward to talking to you again in 2025.

Now, for the final time in 2024, we look back at the past year starting with our …

This was a tough call. In recent years, in this space, I’ve chosen some of the most respected journalists in the world as my Media Personality of the Year. That list has included The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich, CNN’s Clarissa Ward and The Atlantic’s Ed Yong, whose writing and reporting about COVID-19, one of the biggest news stories in modern history, was invaluable and consequential.

This year, however, three people stood out as possible picks, and not one of them represents the very best qualities of journalism/media of the likes of Gershkovich, Ward and Yong.

But this category isn’t necessarily about great journalism or impeccable reputations. It’s about impact. And influence.

Those three who stood out in 2024? Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Joe Rogan.

Trump’s threatening shadow continues to loom large over the media industry, which includes social and tech — as well as traditional media like TV, newspapers and websites. Then there’s Musk, whose social media platform, X, pushed Trump’s agenda like we’ve never seen before. His ability to get Trump’s word out was greater than Trump’s own.

But, in the end, in the year of the podcast election, we go with the podcaster: Joe Rogan.

The man who once hosted a game/reality show where contestants drank gross concoctions, ate bugs and faced their fears of heights and snakes and whatever else you can think of has become the biggest, most influential and most-listened-to podcaster in the world. He attracts big-time guests and his listeners hang on his every word, even when he is passing off opinions as if they were facts. His reach is undeniable, which is why Spotify signed him to a deal that is believed to be worth $250 million.

And one Rogan interview (and one noninterview) played a part in the 2024 election. Rogan interviewed Trump for two hours, and his podcast’s numbers went through the roof — more than 26 million listens on the first day and more than 50 million watched on YouTube.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris agreed only to talk to Rogan if he traveled to where she was and limited the interview to an hour. Rogan turned her down, repeating she was welcome to go to Texas just like Trump did. The interview never happened, and while there were many reasons Harris lost the election, many of Rogan’s listeners (81% of whom are male and 56% are under the age of 35) did point to that as a reason they didn’t vote for her.

Harris turning down Rogan (or, just as accurately, Rogan turning down Harris) turned out to be a much bigger deal than Trump turning down “60 Minutes.” That right there shows the power and influence of Joe Rogan — the biggest podcaster in the world in the year of the podcaster.

ABC News’ “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir had a heck of a year. He continues to anchor the most-watched newscast on TV, which is often the most-watched TV show of any kind in a given week with an average of 7 million viewers. And he did a fine job co-moderating the presidential debate between Trump and Harris, which drew 77 million viewers.

Kristen Welker, moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” scored the first major network interview with Trump following his election victory and had a solid year on “MTP.”

And then there’s Charlamagne tha God. Mediaite recently noted, “During the lightning fast race between Harris and Trump in the 2024 election, few if any supporters of the Democratic ticket wielded as much influence as Charlamagne, whose every utterance landed with a splash covered across the news industry.”

The mess at The Washington Post.

First, executive editor Sally Buzbee abruptly stepped down over the summer. Washington Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis then announced plans for a new kind of newsroom with three different buckets and brought in two of his former colleagues to lead the paper through the transition. But then one of those guys, Robert Winnett, resigned before ever taking over, as he and Lewis faced accusations of using unethical newsgathering practices when they worked together in Britain at the Telegraph and the Sunday Times.

The Post is still trying to figure out its newsroom leadership situation. One strong internal candidate, Matea Gold, bolted to The New York Times. Other high-profile candidates decided they didn’t wish to be considered for the job.

Then there’s the whole deal with the Post’s endorsement for president being stopped, prompting strong rebukes from legendary Post journalists and several others leaving the paper and/or the editorial board. (More on that in a bit.)

Despite all the good journalism that the dedicated newsroom still delivers, its leadership, including its owner, has made this a forgettable year for one of America’s legendary newspapers.

A quiet Saturday in July turned into one of the most bizarre and biggest news stories of the year when Trump — speaking at a campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania — was grazed by a bullet shot by a would-be assassin. After hitting the ground and being surrounded by Secret Service, Trump leapt to his feet. With blood trickling down from his right ear onto his face, Trump pumped a fist into the air and began yelling, “Fight! Fight!”

Capturing the photo above was The Associated Press’ Evan Vucci, who said he was merely doing his job. Philip Kennicott, the senior art and architecture critic for The Washington Post, wrote, “It is a photograph that could change America forever.”

The Atlantic’s Tyler Austin Harper wrote, “However you feel about the man at its center, it is undeniably one of the great compositions in U.S. photographic history.” He added, “The image of Trump, bloody with a raised fist, is destined to adorn T-shirts, magazine covers, full-page spreads in history books, campaign ads. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that the photo is nearly perfect, one captured under extreme duress and that distills the essence of a man in all his contradictions.”

After obliterating Donald Trump in their commentary for months, MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski told their audience after the election that they visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago to mend some fences. Anytime co-hosts of a news show have a chance to sit down with the incoming president of the United States, they absolutely should do it, right? Absolutely not, many “Morning Show” viewers screamed. They were furious, believing Joe and Mika were hypocritical and now genuflecting to someone they demonized for so long.

Back in January, Kevin Merida — one of the most respected journalists in the business — abruptly left his gig as executive editor of the Los Angeles Times. There might have been several reasons, but it all led back to him not getting along with the paper’s owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. Merida leaving (Soon-Shiong said he fired him) was the first step in Soon-Shiong essentially driving the Times’ reputation into a ditch and in what he claims is a turn toward fairness. That came to a head recently when …

Soon-Shiong and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos both stepped in to kill presidential endorsements written by their elite editorial boards. Both the editorial boards of the Times and Post wanted to endorse Harris for president. But going against long traditions, the owners snuffed out the recommendations. Why? Despite their denials, even those who work with the men believe it’s because they were afraid of angering Trump. The decisions by Soon-Shiong and Bezos led to mass exoduses of editorial board writers with stellar reputations.

Yeah, it’s not a good time at the Los Angeles Times. Killing a paper’s endorsement for president, in the eyes of many, is hitting rock bottom for an owner. Soon-Shiong however has gotten out a pickaxe and a shovel and is trying to go deeper. He’s talking about slapping an artificial intelligence-generated “bias meter” on columns, pretty much taking the air out of any opinion piece, as well as bringing in Trump advocates to, what, suggest some kind of both-sideism? The Times has lost many talented writers and editors, and yet Soon-Shiong plows forward and talks in interviews as if he is the one with credibility in journalism.

CNN’s “NewsNight,” hosted by the very talented Abby Phillip, has become one of the more outspoken shows on TV. It’s a show where guests can say anything. Well, maybe not, as one guest learned the hard way. During a heated debate between MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan and commentator (and Donald Trump supporter) Ryan Girdusky, things got out of hand. Hasan said he was used to being called an antisemite because he supports Palestinians. Girdusky said, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off.” The beeper line was a reference to the thousands of pager explosions in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah militants on Sept. 17 — an attack believed to be carried out by Israel. Hasan, naturally, was shocked and offended. Girdusky tried to apologize, but the damage was done. Within a day, Philip announced that Girdusky would no longer appear on CNN.

Tom Brady might be the greatest quarterback of all time, but he’s a rookie again. He’s the lead NFL analyst for Fox Sports. Many thought the seven-time Super Bowl champ would never step foot into a booth, but Fox is paying him $375 million over 10 years. His rookie season has had fits and starts. I see him starting to get the hang of this broadcasting stuff, but he still has plenty of doubters. The big test will be in February when he calls the biggest sporting event in the country: the Super Bowl.

Trump’s onstage interview at the National Association of Black Journalists national convention was …

Uh, I’ll let NABJ member and NPR TV critic Eric Deggans explain it. He wrote, “It felt like watching a slow-motion car crash.”

At one point, Trump said he had done more for Black people than any president since Abraham Lincoln. At another point, he actually said about his opponent, Harris, “I did not know she was Black until a couple of years ago when she happened to turn Black.”

Clearly, looking back, the interview didn’t hurt him enough to keep him from being elected. But it was a memorable moment in the campaign, and the journalists at NABJ, particularly ABC News’ Rachel Scott, handled the moment well.

President Joe Biden practically dared Trump to debate him. But the course of history changed on June 27, 2024, when Biden stepped onto the debate stage. From his first steps, and the first words out of his mouth, Biden looked and sounded frail. It didn’t matter what he actually said that night, by debate’s end, the wheels were already being set in motion for him to do what was once unthinkable. Less than a month after that disastrous debate performance — and a seemingly relentless stream of news stories questioning his mental and physical fitness — Biden dropped out of the race.

However, questions were then raised about whether the media did a good enough job trying to find out if Biden still had the facilities to be president. A question that, in retrospect, is a fair one.

The Poynter-owned Tampa Bay Times lost its office in the middle of the biggest story of the year in Tampa Bay. A crane from a high-rise construction site toppled over in 100-mph-plus winds during Hurricane Milton in October. It smashed into the building that houses the Times. Yet the Times, without a permanent home, forged ahead with stellar coverage — including explaining how and why a crane fell during one of the worst hurricanes to ever hit the Tampa Bay area.

For years, Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy were teammates at CNN as the network’s top media reporters. They combined on the must-read “Reliable Sources” newsletter and Stelter hosted the best media show on TV, also called “Reliable Sources.” But in 2022, with new boss Chris Licht looking to shake things up, Stelter was fired, the “Reliable Sources” TV show was canceled, and Darcy took over as lead author of the newsletter “Reliable Sources.” Wow, who could’ve imagined what 2024 had in store? With Licht now gone and Mark Thompson in charge, Darcy abruptly quit CNN this year to start a new media newsletter called Status. And who replaced Darcy at CNN? None other than Stelter, who has made a triumphant comeback writing “Reliable Sources.”

In March, NBC News hired Ronna McDaniel, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, to be a contributor and, presumably, bring a conservative voice and perspective to the network’s political coverage. Her stint essentially lasted one “Meet the Press” interview. Moderator Kristen Welker pressed McDaniel on her past comments questioning the 2020 election and criticizing journalists covering that story. Some of those journalists at NBC were livid, including Chuck Todd, who delivered a scathing commentary about the hire. As I wrote at the time, “Todd was followed by MSNBC personalities such as Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, Jen Psaki, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell. It was an unprecedented mutiny played out for viewers to watch from their living rooms.” The dust hadn’t even settled when NBC News announced McDaniel would not be joining the network as a contributor.

Trump skipping out on the traditional “60 Minutes” presidential candidate interview and then whining about Harris’ “60 Minutes” interview belongs in the Whiner Hall of Fame.

Did anyone have more of an impact in her field than WNBA star Caitlin Clark? Of course, wherever she went, through no fault of her own, there was controversy. There was the male reporter saying something creepy, a notable sports columnist wrongly accused of being an unfair reporter, and complaints about Clark being singled out as Time magazine’s “Athlete of the Year.” She also raised the attention of women’s basketball to new heights with her stellar play on the court and even-keeled demeanor off it.

Olivia Nuzzi has been a rock star Washington political reporter for the past several years, working high-profile jobs at The Daily Beast, Politico and New York magazine. But her meteoric career took a serious detour over the summer when she admitted to having an inappropriate (although not physical) relationship with someone she covered. That someone happened to be one-time presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She and New York Magazine agreed to part ways, and the scandal got even messier when she and her fiance, Politico chief Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza, broke off their engagement in a very public manner.

No one has ever had more NBA scoops than ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski. Whenever he broke a story, he’d usually drop it on social media, where they famously became called “Woj Bombs.” In September, Wojnarowski dropped the biggest Woj Bomb of all. He announced he would step away from his high-profile and highly lucrative job. He walked away from ESPN with three years and $20 million left on his contract to become an administrator with the St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball program.

It’s “The Poynter Report Podcast,” naturally. Check out our first season, which ran for seven episodes and includes guests such as NBC News and MSNBC national political correspondent Steve Kornacki, Associated Press media writer David Bauder, NPR TV critic Eric Deggans, and some other great guests from inside and outside Poynter. If you’re subscribed to this newsletter and you’re a fan of podcasts, you should definitely check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Amazon Music.

Jon Stewart returned to host Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” — a job he held from 1999 to 2015. He hosted just once a week and was as sharp and witty as ever and apparently had a good time doing it. He was only supposed to host through the election, but recently announced he will stay on at least until the end of 2025.

X owner and Trump fanboy Elon Musk threw his full support behind Trump in 2024. The big kickoff of that was Musk interviewing Trump on X in August. It was Trump’s grand return to the social media platform following his ban in 2021 for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. Musk reinstated Trump in 2022, but Trump didn’t jump back on the X train until the softball interview that started 42 minutes later than it should have because of technical issues. The delay — and mocking on social media — ended up generating more news than the suck-up interview itself.

On March 29, 2023, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia on false charges of espionage. After a rigged trial, Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in prison. But the best media news of the year came on Aug. 1, 2024, when Gershkovich was released as part of a prisoner swap. Gershkovich, in all, spent 16 months in prison, but is now free and, once again, reporting for The Wall Street Journal.

NBC’s coverage of the Paris Olympics. Coverage of the Olympics has lost its luster in recent years, but a perfect storm of the Paris backdrop, compelling stories and a workable time-zone difference made for good ratings and one of the more entertaining Olympics in recent memory.

My colleague, Rick Edmonds, is one of the most accomplished and respected media reporters in the business. In May, this headline appeared on one of his stories: “Gannett fired an editor for talking to me.” It’s true. Edmonds wrote, “Sarah Leach, an experienced editor overseeing 26 Gannett community papers in four states, was fired via video conference first thing the morning of Monday, April 29. She was accused, she said, of ‘sharing proprietary information with (a reporter for) a competing media company.’ The reporter in question was me.” Leach merely told Edmonds what was going on with Gannett’s initiative to revitalize its small community papers. And Leach, a single mother of three with a good reputation in the business, was fired before Edmonds wrote his story. Not one of Gannett’s finer moments.

Every year, student journalists throughout the country make an impact, and 2024 was no different. Student journalists at the University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator broke several stories about the shady tenure of school president Ben Sasse, who eventually resigned. The paper also broke a story about the men’s basketball coach being accused of sexual harassment. Meanwhile, many in the media business credited journalists as Columbia University’s The Columbia Daily Spectator for leading national coverage of pro-Palestinian student protests on campus.

NPR senior editor Uri Berliner tried to jam a stick of dynamite into his employer’s reputation with a 3,500-word essay for Bari Weiss’ The Free Press. In it, he criticized NPR for having a liberal bent and said it has “lost America’s trust.” Conservatives swarmed like sharks after chum in the water. Berliner was suspended and eventually resigned after 25 years at NPR. Meanwhile, with Trump on his way back to the White House, he is already making threats about going after NPR — and he might point to Berliner’s essay as one of his reasons.

Ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson flew to Russia and interviewed President Vladimir Putin. How bad did it go? Putin said afterward in another interview, “To be honest, I thought that he would behave aggressively and ask so-called sharp questions.” That’s embarrassing.

Fox News’ Bret Baier “interviewed” Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. I put “interviewed” in quotation marks because it was less of an interview and more of an exercise in Baier just talking. He constantly interrupted Harris, pretty much sabotaging the conversation. Baier is usually a decent reporter — well, for Fox News anyway — but his arrogance with a hint of misogyny ruined the interview and left a stain on his career. He showed the anchor doesn’t fall very far from the Fox News bias tree.

While it’s impossible to name every journalist and outlet that did great work this year, a few names do need to be mentioned. This list is, by no means, comprehensive, but here goes:

• Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan (The New York Times).
• No one is having more fun than ESPN’s Pat McAfee. And he has some juice, too, considering this takedown of now-former ESPN executive Norby Williamson.
• MSNBC’s Jen Psaki has turned into a heck of a news host.
• Joe Rogan might be the biggest podcaster in the world, but “The Daily” from The New York Times remains the gold standard of podcasts.
• Some of my favorite media writers: David Bauder (The Associated Press), Sara Fischer (Axios), Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson (The New York Times), Erik Wemple (The Washington Post), John Ourand (Puck) and Andrew Marchand and Richard Deitsch (The Athletic).
• Getting better, but should be getting more attention: NewsNation, Fox Weather Channel.
• Utmost respect to courageous TV reporters in combat zones, including CNN’s Clarissa Ward, Fox News’ Trey Yingst and NBC News’ Richard Engel.
• Best sports play-by-play voices: Mike Breen (ABC/ESPN), Joe Buck (ESPN), Jim Nantz (CBS), Kenny Albert (TNT).
• Best sports analysts: Doris Burke (ABC/ESPN), Tony Romo (CBS), Troy Aikman (ESPN), John Smoltz (Fox).
• Most interesting sports studio show guests: Mina Kimes, Ryan Clark and Dan Orlovsky of ESPN and, of course, everyone on the TNT “Inside the NBA” crew.
• Best Sunday morning news show host: Margaret Brennan (CBS’s “Face the Nation”).
• Best news show: “CBS News Sunday Morning.”
• Best contrarians: Conservative Scott Jennings on CNN and liberal Jessica Tarlov on Fox News do their best (and do it well) to play foil to their opposite-minded colleagues while being badly outnumbered and debating the news of the day.
• Most influential: There’s no denying that Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” and “The Five” continue to be among the most influential programs on TV even if they are usually an unfiltered and unchecked megaphone for the right. In fact, that’s what makes them so influential among their dedicated viewers.
• Best media outlet: The New York Times. And it ain’t even close.

• Kim Godwin steps down as president of ABC News.
• This just happened, so we’re still sorting it out, but it could be a big one: ABC News settled a defamation lawsuit with Trump by agreeing to donate $15 million to Trump’s future presidential library/museum.
• Much to the chagrin of many legacy media outlets, influencers showed their, well, influence covering the Democratic National Convention.
• Hoda Kotb announces her retirement from NBC’s “Today” show.
• The NBA cuts new rights deals that will start next season with ABC/ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime, leaving Turner (TNT) out of the mix for the first time in 34 years.
• Most depressing news: The Wrap’s ​​Tess Patton, Sean Burch, Lucas Manfredi and Jeremy Fuster reported just Thursday that, “In 2024, nearly 15,000 jobs were eliminated across broadcast, television, film, news and streaming — extending a two-year run in which the news and entertainment businesses were dealt body blows.”

• Will TikTok be banned in the U.S.?
• Who will eventually become the successor to Rupert Murdoch’s media empire?
• Will The Washington Post bounce back after a nightmarish 2024?
• Can CNN, under the leadership of Mark Thompson, reverse the recent downward trend and regain its standing at the top of the cable news industry?
• What role will artificial intelligence play in the media in 2025?
• And, the scariest one of all, will Donald Trump go after the press, seeking to force them to comply with his presidency or face harsh consequences?

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].

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