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We have finally arrived at the Top (or bottom, depending on perspective) Ten worst journalists from 2024. It has been a difficult slog, and for much of this list, it was a difficult challenge placing the actors in order, but for this final group, things had been mostly set early on. If you have not gone over the bottom of the list already, here are the previous entries of this collocated compendium of contemptuous conduits, columnists, and copyreaders.
The TOWNHALL 50, Part 1 – #31-50
The TOWNHALL 50, Part 2 – #11-30
These are the names that are prominent, who were consistently delivering fractured versions of journalism, and doing so with varying degrees of reach. The past year has been one of notable media mayhem, and these are the names that managed to stand out by stooping lower on the regular, distinguishing themselves with undistinguished performance throughout 2025. Here is the top of the heap in THE TOWNHALL 50.
10. Jim Acosta – CNN: While no longer prowling the press lines at the White House, Abilio has been a fixture on the weekend beat but remained stalwart in delivering his slanted version of the news. In his rush to hail France for being the first country to “enshrine” abortion rights in its constitution, Acosta did not realize he admitted the press declaring abortion a constitutional right in this country has been a lie. After Trump was hit by an assassin’s bullet, the newsman complained that Trump accurately said the Secret Service did not protect him. The former White House correspondent who loved badgering Donald Trump with accusatory questions this Fall complained when Brett Baier supposedly asked deceptive questions of Kamala Harris. On the network that reviles election denialism, Jim denied that Trump won the popular vote.
9. Martha Raddatz – ABC News: It is notable when a long-established member of the press simply decides to fall back on undiluted partisanship. The 71-year-old appears to think her career and reputation are entrenched enough that she can deliver her biased reporting without incurring a hit to her credibility. Following the attempt on his life, Raddatz said Trump brought this attack on himself. She parroted the Democrat talking point on deporting illegals by asking how that effort would be paid for if enacted. When interviewing JD Vance, Martha actually stated that Venezuelan gangs in Colorado are not a problem because they were overtaking only “a handful of apartment complexes.” Martha fretted about what a Pete Hegseth appointment would mean for her allies inside the Defense Department.
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In a rather insulting segment, Martha spoke with a young black voter and basically insinuated Trump corrupted her mind.
Some astonishingly blatant partisanship from @MarthaRaddatz as she grills this young voter favoring Trump.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) August 19, 2024
She challenges her views, implies she is brainwashed, and laments she cannot change the woman’s mind.
“Journalism” pic.twitter.com/q9hjPabM92
8. Jeffrey Goldberg – The Atlantic: The Editor-In-Chief at the outlet also hosts a weekly show on PBS that is effectively a DNC PR source. All year long, his panels delivered pro-Biden/Harris content and anti-anything GOP-related. But the glaring aspect of Goldberg’s year was his repugnant attempt at an October surprise, on par with his previous scandalously debunked “Suckers and Losers” hit job on Donald Trump.
This time, he filed a story claiming Trump reneged on paying for the funeral costs of a fallen military woman and vulgarly referred to the soldier in racist terms. His story was based on anonymous sources, yet those in attendance of the alleged meeting in the White House – such as Mark Meadows – went on the record to completely deny the event. Additionally, the soldier’s family as well as their lawyer all denied the report and lent full support to Trump.
This story should have been tossed out by any reputable editor, but it is made worse coming from the outlet’s EOC. Even in the face of these denials, Goldberg went out and defended his garbage report, calling those in attendance liars and disparaging the Gold Star family. This was as disgusting of an example of hack journalism as you will see.
7. Mary Bruce – ABC NEWS: The network’s White House correspondent is an unapologetic Democrat sympathizer, one who delivered dedicated support for Biden and then easily segued to backing Kamala when the party switched candidates. After the release of the Hur Report, Mary was touting Biden’s sharpness in the transcripts, and the next day, she was serving up underhand wiffle ball questions to spokesman Ian Sams to condemn Hur. Ms. Bruce was conflicted over the debate in May, stating at first how Trump pushed for the meetup but then cheering how Biden was somehow the one who challenged Trump to a debate.
Once Kamala was on the campaign trail, Mary pushed the abortion agenda in her trademarked style; she delivered the proven false claim that a Georgia woman died from the state's abortion law, but Bruce, though knowing this to be false, reported it as something Kamala had said in a speech in order to keep the narrative going. Bruce laughably tried selling the idea that Liz Cheney backing Kamala meant Republicans faced a tough choice now. (Just ignore the fact Republicans kicked Cheney to the curb like Bruce ignores.) The reporter felt the need to lapse into the farcical claim Pete Hegseth’s Jerusalem Cross tattoo is a sign of white supremacy. Bruce – knowing full well the false story from Jeffrey Goldberg in 2020 had been debunked – still managed, in a desperately pathetic fashion, to pimp out that Trump allegedly called soldiers suckers and losers.
On ABC's Saturday "World News Tonight," no Hunter Biden mention, but Mary Bruce recycles "reports" that Trump called the US war dead "suckers" and "losers."
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) June 9, 2024
"Trump denies ever saying that, but Biden often repeats the story an example of the stark differences between them." pic.twitter.com/cqiDCF6Ofg
6. Nicolle Wallace – MSNBC: It has been rather amusing to watch as the hostess of one of the network’s top-rated shows became more unwound and unfocused to a fever-dream level of coverage. When presented with facts that the FBI had assets on site on January 6, Nicky shut down the discussion, literally saying, “You don’t need to tell the whole story!” In order to level the election playing field, while Kamala was avoiding the press, Wallace announced they would not cover Trump’s rallies and pressers, due to some unnamed threat. Following Biden’s debate debacle, Wallace was stating he needed to step down, when over the previous weeks she accused anyone making that suggestion was threatening democracy. Nicolle sat with Seth Meyers to declare she was frightened about the election. The afternoon hostess griped about Ronna McDaniel sullying what she called the “sacred airwaves” of her wing-nut network.
In one of her frequent emotional rants, she wailed about Trump breaking the law and not being held accountable (details of which she never provides) then supposedly tossed away her prepared pages as a sign of unplanned defiance – just as the camera perfectly cuts to a wider shot in order to catch this “spontaneous” reaction.
Nicolle Wallace has another meltdown over Trump. 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/0hZw0Xgus5
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) March 30, 2024
5. Kristen Welker – NBC News: It takes some real…um, talent, we suppose…to take over the reins from Chuck Todd and actually lower the quality of the show he guided to new depths. The hostess of “Meet the Press” showed her dedication to leftist talking points and being unprepared for Republicans who knew what they were talking about. She played the regular game of asking Republicans if they would declare election results valid before an election. With Senator Marco Rubio, she tried to pretend the press did not smother the Hunter Biden laptop story. She tried gaming Mike Johnson with false claims, blaming Trump for immigrant funding, and was dismantled by the Speaker with facts.
After half a year of deflections about Biden’s health concerns, Welker bizarrely was demanding we get medical reports on Trump’s cholesterol counts. Kristen was completely out of her depth with the first interview of Trump after the election, clinging to base narratives that the president-elect swatted regularly. Most embarrassing was Welker telling Senator Tom Cotton that Kamala Harris attended the transfer ceremony of the fallen soldiers from Afghanistan and her own program had to come out and correct the hostess for being incorrect.
On our broadcast this morning, we incorrectly implied that both President Biden and Vice President Harris attended the dignified transfer of 13 American service members killed during the Afghanistan withdrawal. Biden was in attendance but Harris was not.
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 1, 2024
4. Jen Psaki – MSNBC: The former White House press secretary moved to the network and possibly managed to become worse in front of the cameras as far as delivering false information. While in the administration, it is expected that spinning and misdirection are often at play, but when operating at a supposed news network, it becomes far less tolerable. In May, we saw Jen wishing for Trump’s demise. After Trump’s assassination attempt, Jenny said she feared for her safety, and later she and Philippe Reines talked of sharing a cell under a Trump administration. And, of course, she pushes for laws to limit expression and misinformation.
She tried mocking Trump for naming Space Force after a comedy movie, when in fact the film was spoofing the pre-existing space agency. She claimed campaigns do not work to kill negative stories, as if the Hunter laptop issue was not a factor in the last election.
In the desperate push to make Doug Emhoff a benefit to the election, Psaki told him he redefined masculinity. Immediately after her book came out in May, it was proven she lied about Biden checking his watch at the body transfer ceremony, and the publisher needed to announce revisions to it in reprints and digital copies.
New: Psaki wrote in her new book Biden didn’t check his watch during ceremony for the Abbey Gate soldiers
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) May 13, 2024
It was “misinformation,” she wrote, contradicting news photos & the Gold Star families
Psaki initially didnt comment but says it will be correctedhttps://t.co/EAd4lnJA9n pic.twitter.com/KYZWl0PW0f
3. Rachel Maddow – MSNBC: Even with limited exposure to one day a week, Ms. Maddow made herself a figurehead of all that is failing at her network. She has become a regular source of BlueAnon conspiracy content while also serving as the reactionary head of panels on breaking stories throughout the year. She seemed to think it was unique and novel when Republicans wear a dark suit and red necktie. She gave a serious lecture on the past of dealing with radical threats in the country in order to defeat Trump.
While railing against authoritarianism, she stated at the same time the government needed to yank all the contracts with Elon Musk. After the election, she suggested her viewers “unburn bridges” with Trump voters somehow, after years of effectively burning them down with Nazi talk. Maddow called the Trump victory the end of our multi-racial democracy after he saw increased voter support across all minority groups.
In yet another unhinged rant, she warned that Trump was promising in a presidency to basically do all of the things Joe Biden has been doing.
Rachel @Maddow describing Trump's dictator-worshiping pitch to voters: "If you pick me, that'll be the end of politics, and you won't have to deal with politics anymore. You won't have to deal with contested elections, you won't have to deal with contests or divisions when it… pic.twitter.com/DuJxENLOJJ
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 23, 2024
2. Daniel Dale – CNN: The once avowed “Presidential fact-checker” (he has since altered his bio) spent the bulk of his year not fact-checking the actual president, all while being supremely focused on Donald Trump. This borderline obsession was so prevalent that when Joe Biden was interviewed on Dale’s own network, he never corrected any of his falsehoods, but there was a list of Trump fact checks in his archive. After the Biden-Trump debate, he soft-pedaled Biden’s lies as misstatements.
At the Republican convention, he called elements of Mike Waltz’s speech on military funding pure fiction, and the next night, Waltz undressed Dale with stone-cold facts that the expert fact-checker was unable to glean. After the Kamala Harris acceptance speech, Dale had to reclassify her fraudulent comments with context and other verbal games. After the Harris-Trump debate, CNN’s resident hack-checker could barely find any objectionable comments from Harris, going so far as to overlook her pushing the years-old lie of Trump supposedly calling white supremacists “very fine people.” As a result, we did his job for him.
The embodiment of "audacity" is seen at @CNN as their viscount of verité, @DDale8, can barely find any objectionable factual errors by Kamala Harris at the debate.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) September 13, 2024
I help out the esteemed fact-checker by doing his job for him:
Here's a lengthy list, Danielhttps://t.co/Q77mDkvyNa
1. JOE SCARBOROUGH – MSNBC:
Townhall Media
When it comes to pouring out blatantly corrupted, fractured, bent, hobbled, disposable, and completely useless forms of journalism on a quotidian basis, there was no more dependable practitioner than the revered namesake of MSNBC’s morning show. From the start of the year all the way up to the fading weeks on the calendar, Joe Scarborough managed to put forth a brand of punditry-journalism-fable-weaving that defied belief and common sense. And it surprised absolutely nobody when it was revealed that Joe Biden declared “Morning Joe” to be his preferred news source. He put forth so much content that defied facts that you would be excused for assuming to be a children’s storytime morning show.
Joe somehow blamed immigrants released to go on and beat New York cops on Trump. The GOP surrendered to communists for sending ONLY $110 billion to Ukraine. He claims Trump will arrest journalists even as Biden did exactly that, and he resuscitated the Russian meddling myth. Joe lost his mind over an endorsement from a Republican, tried to lecture on the good economy while ignorant of high prices for butter, and shamed the memory of his mother in order to defend Biden. The first day after the Trump assassination attempt, the network pulled Joe’s show from broadcast, to be sure they did not say inciteful things in the aftermath.
There was sheer comedy when, after he and his bride Mika spent the year calling Trump a Nazi, the couple announced after the election how they had gone to Mar-a-Lago and met with Hitler.
Scar-Joe boosted his fortunes by also providing the Quote of the Year, with his insistent rant about the sharpness of Joe Biden’s mind.
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough brags about Joe Biden:
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) March 6, 2024
“F*ck you if you can't handle the truth. This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever."
Does anyone actually believe that? 🤣pic.twitter.com/QKyZY8SDtJ
Congratulations go out to Mr. Scarborough for a well-earned, year-long (dis)honor!
Screenshot via MSNBC
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