With the year coming to a close, it is time to haul the news from the media to the curb, but we first need to dig through the pile and sort the refuse. We need to separate the worst from getting into the recycling bins, because the last thing we need to see is some of this behavior circulating once again. So, in the futile effort of improving the journalism landscape, we need to highlight the lowlights of 2025.
Here at "Riffed From the Headlines," it has been another year of compiling the worst and misbegotten in the media landscape. We began the year with the hope that improvements would be experienced. Our hopes were, not surprisingly, dashed. Thus, we are left with the task of delivering notice of the worst from the journalism industry, and for that, we have developed The Heckler Awards.
This will be a four-part series in which we will (dis)honor the events reported in the press this year, based on the evidence compiled in our daily column. We begin with technical awards, and that will then give way to specific honors in the various categories we use to organize the lapses in journalism ethics. Part One will honor industry-wide activity, while Part Two will recognize achievements by individuals and specific outlets, and then Parts Three and Four will entail the category "winners."
Now, with that pageantry aside, let us delve into the recognition and begin handing out the recognition of the news industry foibles for 2025, in this, the first round of The Hecklers!
The Industry Prevarication of the Year – The Epstein Follies
There were a great many corrupted storylines throughout the year, so choosing was not an easy task. But eventually we settled on the one item that seemed to be a throughline in the press for most of the year. The release of the Epstein Files occupied the press for most of 2025, beginning with the criticism that they were not released in a timely fashion. This led the press to – dare we use their term – "pounce."
The accusations began early, then the delay in the release, and the announcement that there was not an actual "list" was all it took for the media to rush to conclusions. Later in the year, we saw the steady release of choice documents, all creating a maelstrom of accusations from the press. The common thread? It was all entirely supposition.
Every charge leveled at President Trump, every piece of "evidence" held up, and every claim that they finally had him pegged with guilt fell apart. The Democrats leaked choice emails and doctored photos to assign culpability, as the press obediently trumpeted the "proof," and every time these examples fell apart faster than an IKEA bookshelf. The realization was that if Trump could have been brought down by Epstein evidence, it would have occurred years ago. The desperation was blatant, and the need to ignore Democrats proven to have Epstein connections made things worse.
The Media Mynah Birds Trophy – The "Maryland Man" Mystique
As the administration ramped up the deportation efforts, the press found their martyr, and it was a perplexing choice. Abrego Garcia was latched onto as their cause, an illegal alien with a checkered past and connections to El Salvador gangs. This was who they picked as their sympathetic figure?!
Yet, as he was rightfully deported, the press recast Garcia, referring to him as a "Maryland father" while ignoring his background, using him as a cudgel against Trump. Even when he was exposed as a domestic abuser, and then a case of him being involved in trafficking other illegals emerged, they still clung to him as their noble figure. This posturing fed into a year of other sympathetic stories where detained illegals were recast, as their valid deportation rap sheets were ignored to push the anti-deportation narrative.
Recognition for Deep Sea Double-Tap Divisiveness – Drug Boat Criticisms Bombing
The obsessiveness in the press to bring down Secretary Pete Hegseth, at any cost, has been perpetual since he was announced as the appointee for the role in heading the War Department. The latest is the urgency to say he has committed a war crime by targeting drug boats off the coast of Venezuela. Specifically, one event where they targeted a boat and there were survivors, so a second strike was made. This is said to be a severe violation of war crime statutes, which collapses under scrutiny.
If the boat was initially targeted, why is a second strike considered problematic? And if double-tap strikes on targeted combatants are considered criminal, where was this media outrage when Barack Obama was routinely using double-tap drone strikes that took out first responders and civilians? The reporting today strikes as being deeply convenient.
Collective Pearl-Clutching Honor – The White House Bawl-room
It was a tiresome time when every newscast had to have us feeling deep tremors of anxiety that President Trump was going to undertake the prospect of constructing a new ballroom on the White House grounds. All manner of fractured coverage ensued. First, it was destroying the main building, then it became that he was razing the historic East Wing (comprised mostly of empty offices and a kitchen that struggles to supply large events). Also, we were told he did not go through appropriate channels, that it was costing taxpayers too much, and that the private donations were a problem.
What has cooled the coverage is how many past presidents expressed a desire for a ballroom, and that for most state dinners, guests walked through the East Wing in order to go to a party outside, held in tents.
This is actually hilarious because this photo shows invited guests walking **through** the East Wing to get to a **tent** set up outside for Biden’s state dinner.
— Kristen Mag (@kristenmag) October 27, 2025
Which is…you know…the whole reason Trump is building a ballroom. pic.twitter.com/jsoFqzX3fK
The Shutdown Shoutdown Citation – Slanted Coverage of Closing the Government
We endured the longest government shutdown in the nation's history, and the effects were so dire that some people actually noticed. Throughout the pointless power struggle, the press took the unanimous position that this had been entirely the fault of the Republicans. Despite, you know, the small detail about every single GOP member voting to keep things open.
Somehow, the Democrats largely escaped blame despite being hailed for their strong stance, and even when they voted against emergency payments to the military and benefits programs, they were excused from culpability.
In the end, nothing at all was accomplished, and the press was left trying to sell the concept that Democrat subsidies set to expire by the Democrats and exploding the cost of the Democrat-crafted Obamacare was entirely blamed on Republicans.
Taken Into Accountability Award – Media Defamation Suits
It was a year marked by media outlets being taken to task legally for errant and malicious reporting. An act that previously was difficult to enforce in the courts became a regular feature throughout the year. MSNBC settled a case where it lied about a doctor performing hysterectomies on immigrant women. CBS News also had a notable settlement with President Trump over the deceptively edited interview with Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes. Most notable was in January when a jury ruled that CNN was liable for malicious defamation against a Navy veteran. Additionally, the president has two active cases going on, one against the Pulitzer Prize committee and one recently brought against the BBC.
The Droning Censorship Decree – Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Mark Kelly
There has been all manner of media wailing this year about censorship, with a notable component heard: Specifically, we cannot stop hearing from those supposedly censored! After CBS announced that it was not renewing Stephen Colbert's contract, accusations flew that he was cancelled by Donald Trump. The show is losing tens of millions of dollars annually, yet the "cancelled" host is still on the air, insulting the president nightly, until next summer.
Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air for a few nights following his comments about Charlie Kirk. More hysteria followed about the president being intolerant of criticism. Yet there is Kimmel, each and every night, braying about the man he says is obsessed with him.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) has been on a media tour for weeks now following the controversy of the Seditious Six video he took part in last month. If you have not heard Kelly declaring how he will not allow the president to silence him, go flip on your television – it is likely he is talking about not being allowed to talk by granting his 573rd interview this month.
A Framed Pink Slip – NPR/PBS/CPB
The first half of the year was filled with segments, hearings, reports, and interviews with the leadership of the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio, as they strove mightily to fend off the looming threat of being defunded. Their words were not only futile, as the Big Beautiful Bill saw fit to yank the federal funding, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting folded as a result. All the emotional narratives were entirely empty, as it was shown.
One of the claims perpetually made was how people in remote areas relied on public broadcasters for emergency information. It had always been a laughable claim, but then it was exposed when the flash floods hit regions in Texas. After that natural disaster, it was found that the NPR station in that area never delivered weather alerts throughout the night when lives were affected.
Media Rennovation Recipients – MSNBC / CNN
One thing you can undertake when you are a foundering news network is changing your framework for the better. In the case of second place MSNBC and distant third place CNN, these are not exactly willing changes.
CNN has long been struggling in the ratings and has long desired to enter the digital streaming marketplace. It has failed repeatedly. Most remember CNN+, the effort that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, only to be shut down in less than one month. Less known was the attempt to reconstitute things on the HBO Max platform, and that garnered little interest. So that was ended in October, as the network was set to unveil CNN Premium, a subscription service where people can pay for the content that most do not want to watch for free. How can it go wrong?!
After Comcast Universal spun off its cable channels into a separate company called Versant, it also meant that NBC News was cutting off the cable news channel entirely. Over the course of months, MSNBC had to move out to get its own studios, was cut off from using manpower and equipment in D.C., had to rely on Sky News for syndicated content, and by November, divest itself from all connections to the broadcast network. It was rebranded as MS NOW ("My Source for News, Opinion, and the World"), and a $20 million ad campaign was launched to promote its rebranding.
The Trophy for Not Listening To Their Own Echoes – Ignoring the Russian Collusion Files Release
For most of a decade, the press had been entirely consumed with the coverage of the Russian collusion scandal…that wasn't. Just think back to the time when barely any newscast would take place without some mention of the scandal that was never alive but somehow would not die. But when this Spring saw Tulsi Gabbard releasing the full complement of intelligence files, suddenly the press had very little interest…at all. The story has been entirely forgotten by now.
Something about the Democrats' deceptive practices and the complicity of the press has inspired abject apathy in media circles.
The Plane Blame Game Award – False Reporting On Airline Accidents
Following the jarring air catastrophe in D.C., when a military chopper collided with a landing passenger airliner, the press was intent on heaping the blame on President Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The intent was to suggest that cuts had led to staffing shortages in air traffic control towers, and for weeks, any incident to be found was blasted on the airwaves and across headlines. At one point, a plane that crashed during a landing was attempted to be blamed on President Trump and Duffy…despite that incident taking place in Canada.
Eventually, this narrative died off for two reasons. The number of airline accidents has been lower than the previous year, and staffing shortages were found to have been in place during the Biden years.
Revisionist Thinking Recognition – New Criticisms of the Old Regime
Maybe we can credit Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson for freeing the minds of some in the press. Their book "Original Sin" was comprised mostly of news about the Biden presidency that the press refused to cover during the Biden presidency. This sparked at least a glimmer of reports recasting some of the details from the previous four years.
New assessments about the economy from the past four years have occasionally seeped out. There was a willingness by The New York Times to take a new approach to Biden's actions at the border. And it was rather stark the way that former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was dumped on by many for her disaster of a book tour, where she appeared inept and incapable of speaking cogently. Now, this had always been the case with KJP, but in the past, when those of us would point it out, the press would act indignant.
Somali Enchanted Evening Prize – Excusing Minnesota Welfare Fraud
As the case of the rampant government benefits scandal in Minnesota continues to grow, many in the press are showing more than a hesitation to cover this story. They seem intent on covering it up. As more evidence emerges that this entails billions of dollars of fraud, with fortunes being sent out of the country to Somalis, many outlets are taking the approach that it is wrong and mean to focus on the Somali community.
Of course, there is more than just identity politics involved. The scandal is enveloping prominent Democrats, like Ilhan Omar, Tim Walz, and Keith Ellison, so they need to be brought on news shows to spin the scandal news and evade culpability.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Townhall’s conservative reporting and opinion? Support our work by joining Townhall VIP! Use the promo code MERRY74 to get 74% off your VIP membership!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member