Mediaite's annual ranking of the 75 individuals who shaped — and made — the headlines this past year dropped today.
The year started with an attack on the U.S. Capitol. It’s ending with the emergence of a frightening new Covid variant. And in between, 2021 was a very different year in the news.
It was different largely because Donald Trump, for most of the year, was not the president. While he reestablished himself as the dominant figure in the Republican Party, no longer was much of the country tuned to his every move — particularly with his Twitter account having been shuttered. The Trump show went from 24/7 to the occasional one-hour special.
And that meant 24-hour news outlets had to completely reinvent themselves. No longer was the White House going to solve all of their programming problems. News had to be found outside the Beltway.
There was still plenty going on in the world. The pandemic remained a major storyline in 2021. In the early part of the year, it was all about the vaccine rollout. The latter half, meanwhile, has been all about the Delta and Omicron waves.
Then, there was the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The early days of the pullout resulted in widespread violence, including a suicide bombing at Kabul airport. The scramble to get U.S. citizens out of the country resulted in some of the most dramatic, harrowing news coverage in ages — where journalists put themselves in serious peril to bring viewers back home the story.
Indeed, it was a year of change on cable news. And a year in which top reporters did some truly must-watch work, key opinion makers set a brand new agenda, and lead executives made crucial decisions to the future of their networks.
Typically, we commemorate our list with an industry blowout in New York featuring the biggest stars in the business. While Covid has kept us from holding this event for the moment, we’re excited to share that we plan to celebrate our honorees soon!
Find out who made the list — and who placed first — here.
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