It is time for our annual rundown of the run-down journalism seen from America’s media complex: The Townhall 50. Throughout the entire year, we compile the worst examples of violations in journalism ethics in the daily “Riffed From the Headlines” column, and from this, we collate the names of repeat offenders.
In order to measure and rank the worst journalists, we apply a strict and regimented, arbitrary formula based on media reach, the output of content, impact of reporting, and influence wielded by the individual. In this, the final entry, we climb our way down to the worst journalists seen last year, with the top (bottom?) 10 journalists of 2025.
The Townhall 50 – Ranking the Worst Journalists of 2025, Part 1: #31-50
The Townhall 50 – Ranking the Worst Journalists of 2025, Part 2: #11-30
So, armed with these metrics, here they are, in ascending order, the worst examples of journalism malpractice, ethics violators, and miscreants found in the media last year.
Behold, the conclusion of The Townhall 50.
10. Jacob Soboroff – MS NOW: After deciding to remain at MSNBC, becoming MS NOW, he strove to deliver decidedly leftist-anti-Trump content on the regular. Jacob began the year with a visit to Stephen Colbert and insisted that a toughened border policy does not stem immigration; yet, as he said that deterrence at the border does not work, the number of illegals had already begun crashing, leading to negative net migration. When the California wildfires erupted, Jacob was on the scene, giving Gov. Gavin Newsom the chance to spin better PR for himself. NBC News had to settle a major defamation suit based on Soboroff’s errant reporting of a doctor alleged to have performed unneeded hysterectomies on immigrants. It was entirely based on a sole witness later proven to be unreliable, so the network paid out the penalty. Soboroff was a regular sympathizer of illegals and a critic of ICE in a string of slanted reports.
He shamed himself with an excitable interview at a No Kings rally – by shoving his microphone into the snout of an inflatable pink unicorn protester.
“We’re here peacefully protesting, looking as ridiculous as we can, just so maybe we appeal to the president because he’s a ridiculous leader that is normalizing abuse of power. And we cannot stand and act like nothing is happening.” 🦄 pic.twitter.com/NB2yM6cbRN
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) October 19, 2025
9. Jeffrey Goldberg – The Atlantic: The Editor in Chief for the outlet splashed the biggest controversy this year with his report about being inadvertently added to a Defense Department messaging discussion on airstrikes on the Houthis. While certainly a major foul-up by the officials (leading to the dismissal of Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor), the supposed downfall of Secretary Pete Hegseth did not occur. This is because, despite Goldberg’s claims of being privy to sensitive intel, he never delivered on the promise to reveal such. Jeff had the first reveal of the Kamala Harris election book, which was not a significant scoop, largely due to his publisher being tight friends with the former VP. He told Jake Tapper the press could not report on Joe Biden’s mental slide without firm sourcing, although Alex Thompson wrote about how White House officials confirmed they had lied about his condition, and the press played along.
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8. Rachel Maddow – MS NOW: The highly paid queen at this outlet stepped back from her nightly news show at Trump’s 100-day mark in order to only work Monday nights. She had a dramatic meltdown over birthright citizenship. In her trademarked fact-free style, she complained that Trump ordered a fleet of Teslas and accused him of corruption with Elon Musk, despite the reality that the order had been placed under Biden’s term. Rachel actually complained that the president was highlighting a pediatric cancer patient during his State of the Union address.
Maddow roundly mocked a Florida sheriff for his allegedly militant crackdown on No Kings protesters when he promised to arrest those blocking roadways, and she then showed the protests were properly controlled. She concocted a fever-dream conspiracy that Trump targeted drug boats so he could freely deport all Venezuelans. The openly gay hostess allowed Kamala Harris to explain that she did not choose Pete Buttigieg as her running mate because, “as a black candidate with a gay running mate, it would be a real risk.”
After President Trump featured the young cancer patient D.J. Daniel during the State of the Union, Rachel was raging about the touching moment and had to turn it bitterly political.
When will Democrats be brave enough to point out @MSNBC is actually hurting them? Trump celebrates DJ Daniel, a 13yo who beat brain cancer, and not only do Democrats not cheer, but Rachael Maddow rages. These people are out of touch and in a bubble. pic.twitter.com/byLRsOHa4X
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) March 5, 2025
7. Scott McFarlane – CBS News: The network’s stentorian correspondent was largely despondent much of the year. The January 6 obsessive was upset that the DOJ took down its Jan. 6 web page. Scott was perturbed by GOP behavior during the SOTU, but had zero comment on the crude shouting from Democrats. In a report, he was critical of calling drug cartels terrorist groups, after showing a memorial to the 100,000 fentanyl victims. Expectantly, he slams having troops in D.C. but admits they are not actually conducting arrests, and then ignores the arrests of murderers of a congressional intern. Scott seemed bothered by the dire move of a Florida radio station promoting “Trump Country.” Claimed no evidence that Charlie Kirk’s shooter was investigated as a trans individual, based on the opinion of a mayor, when no quote saying that came from the Bureau and the FBI was actually looking into transgenderism as an issue.
In an amazing example of “Main Character Syndrome,” MacFarlane claimed he had PTSD and nearly died when Trump was almost assassinated. He explains that the crowd, for whatever reason, was allegedly about to turn on reporters on the scene, but when the president raised his fist, that quelled the threat, and his life was spared. All of this was supposed to have played out in a matter of seconds.
CBS's Scott MacFarlane claims that after Trump was shot "I got diagnosed with PTSD within 48 hours. I got put on trauma leave, not because, I think, of the shooting, but because, you could, you saw it in the eyes, the reaction of the people. They were coming for us. If he didn't… pic.twitter.com/MfrQxN9mvh
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) July 17, 2025
6. Nicolle Wallace – MS NOW: The precious pundit with a vocal fry and an afternoon show was in all of her anti-Trump glory this past year. Her derangement was at high levels, as seen with her coverage of the State of the Union Address when she referenced the president highlighting the young cancer patient who wants to be a cop, and somehow she turned that into a rant about January 6. After a laundry list of leftist violence, she insisted that only conservatives commit political violence. Nicky blamed Trump supporters for the house fire of a district judge, well after authorities determined there was no foul play. The woman who called the hard videos of Joe Biden’s decline “fake” now says she can “see” that President Trump has mental issues. She admitted to being “gutted” at seeing Venezuelan gang members being deported.
In a desperate attempt at gaslighting, Nicky actually denied that any Democrats have ever called Trump Hitler. Seriously, she said that. Okay then, roll the tape!
Nicolle Wallace: No one calls Trump Hitler*
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 27, 2025
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*Except every day on my show pic.twitter.com/QjI6KklYsU
5. Kaitlan Collins – CNN: Can you say she was promoted when she returned to her previous post? The primetime hostess, whose ratings have been uniformly dismal, was also reinstated as the network’s White House correspondent and was routinely shown to be out of her depth. Says that Trump ignoring rogue judges is a constitutional crisis, not the lone judges who overstep their authority to override the White House policies. Kaitlan was called out and belittled at the Tulsi Gabbard WH presser. During a visit with Seth Meyers, she complained that Trump makes her work so much. In a comically inept segment, Collins claimed Trump was ducking the media due to the economy, when he had not only been fully available all week but then, just moments after her claim, Trump gave a 90-minute press conference.
Kaitlan fumbled trying to corner Doug Collins on the Signal scandal when he was not involved, she also tried and failed to trap JD Vance with a question on January 6, and disputed claims by the White House that there was a ceasefire when she was next interrupted to be corrected that it was actually in place. Lamely, she told Sen. Ted Cruz that we do not know the motive of Charlie Kirk’s shooter. Kaitlan was defied by her own network as she tried to sell the canard that illegals cannot get healthcare, but Jake Tapper had previously shown that was the case. She actually expressed dismay that Trump did not care about being called “racist.”
Shamefully, Kaitlan had to delete a post when she was caught promoting a website for Luigi Mangione with fundraising options made available for the admitted murderer.
1: She deleted the post. (If there was nothing wrong then why did she delete it?)
— L A R R Y (@LarryOConnor) February 16, 2025
2: Here is a screenshot. I have marked out the website that she shared... the fundraising link that she is now claiming she did not share.
3: The cover-up is always worse than the crime pic.twitter.com/xjE7TSn50R
4. Lawrence O’Donnell – MS NOW: While rarely moving the political needle, Larry is a primetime fixture, and his frequently imbalanced lectures and rants are often so perplexing that you have to wonder if any of the network brass even pays attention to him.
He was critical of the White House press corps when, after the first press briefing with Karoline Leavitt, he saw them acting polite and professional. Not long after Trump took office, Larry needed to take a week off because the president delivered too much news for him to cover. As the network was constricting and struggling for viewers, he actually held out for a better contract.
Ever the conspiracist, O’Donnell suggested JD Vance released the Trump birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein so he could bring down Trump and become president. After a SCOTUS ruling, it was sanely stated that now President Trump could deport “any person…any time…anywhere….” In a sign of seeing his distant second place in the ratings threatened, O’Donnell had a meltdown on air over Scott Jennings appearing on CNN during the same hour.
In an absolute gem of journalism excellence, Lawrence “proved” there was no need at all for troops to be sent into Washington, D.C., based on a fictional scene from an 80-year-old black-and-white movie.
Behold, as @Lawrence O’Donnell proves there is no crime in D.C. as he offers up for evidence…how no National Guard troops appear in the scene at Union Station in a Jimmy Stewart movie from 1939.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) August 22, 2025
And with that, Donald Trump is therefore DEBUNKED, we assume… pic.twitter.com/ntDUbvudak
3. Jen Psaki – MS NOW: Where to begin with the hyper-partisan former press secretary hack? How about her take on the Signal scandal? Or the time she accidentally admitted on a podcast how MSNBC only reports negatively about Trump?
Somehow, Psaki never saw the side of Biden’s decline when working in the White House. She says Trump made no international deals, despite numerous deals having been brokered, and an hour later, Trump announced a new deal with Britain. Jennifer complained that Trump was off for Memorial Day, when she previously defended Joe Biden for taking off for the very same holiday. Psaki was tabbed to fill the Tuesday-Friday schedule vacated by Rachel Maddow, and she promptly lost half of Maddow’s audience after taking over the time slot.
In a condescending and anti-feminist discussion on Jennifer Welch’s podcast, Jennifer implied that Usha Vance is a hostage in her marriage in need of being rescued.
Jen Psaki Says JD Vance is ‘Scarier’ Than Trump
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) October 21, 2025
“He's smarter in some ways, and he's young and ambitious.” 😱 pic.twitter.com/WHsfJlCr3U
2. Margaret Brennan – CBS News: The Sunday hostess of Face the Nation was so routinely schooled by her Republican guests that she has earned her Master's Degree in Narrative Rendering. Margaret seems to prepare for each episode with arranged talking points lined up, and has no need to do more, which leads her to being consistently unraveled by the presentation of basic facts.
She suggests poorer states cannot take care of themselves in a disaster, and also claimed no DEI spending took place at USAID, then, when shown proof, said the amount was negligible. She opposed deportations because they could rob us of the next Einstein. Margaret denied that Mahmoud Kahlil was a Hamas sympathizer.
Brennan was completely flummoxed by the reasoning behind “penguin tariffs” and argued with Sen. Rand Paul on defunding "Sesame Street," though it is no longer owned by PBS. Maggie was shamed by Sen. Tom Cotton over the riots and his New York Times column, and lost to Secretary Marco Rubio on Iranian enrichment, and then Rubio, on another visit, again had to enlighten her, this time about why European leaders came to the White House over peace talks.
In yet another talk with Marco Rubio, Ms. Brennan actually said free speech was weaponized by the Nazis.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defends @JDVance's "historic" speech last week in Munich, leaves ABC's Margaret Brennan speechless after she tries to claim that free speech was "weaponized" by the Nazis. Incredible exchange: 👇 pic.twitter.com/GYLZfopVwP
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) February 16, 2025
1. Jake Tapper – CNN: The once respected journalist at the network has devolved into a meandering mess of a media figure.
The biggest factor was the release of the book “Original Sin,” where he and co-author Alex Thompson revealed all of the media cover-ups involving the condition of former President Joe Biden. The main issue, obviously, was Tapper’s participation in that gambit.
For the book tour, Tapper hired a crisis communications firm to run his PR campaign. This is for good reason, as he has a conflict with his own past coverage. In his book, Jake praised two Wall Street Journal reporters – Annie Linskey and Siobhan Hughes – for their report about Biden’s flagging condition, and he even cast scorn on the journalists who had criticized them at the time their coverage was published. Only issue – he was among those criticizing them at the time. Here is his segment, not with the reporters but with Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, as both men questioned the veracity of their reporting.
Here was @JakeTapper making snide commentary that the initial @WSJ report on Joe Biden's Condition was from a Murdoch-owned outlet, they only quoted Republicans, and then he did not speak to the reporters, but had Chris Coons spinning for the party.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) May 15, 2025
1/2https://t.co/zLC6G7sGIv
Then, to conclude his book run, Jake sat for an interview with George Clooney, the actor who helped provoke Biden’s removal from the party ticket.
Look at the adverse effects of the election on stardom.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) April 17, 2025
The George Clooney @CNN shows in their promo versus the Clooney who appeared with Tapper. pic.twitter.com/2SYm8FObhJ
Apart from book-related issues, it was still a tough 2025 for Tapper. When he appeared in the CNN defamation lawsuit, he testified that he did not know about his ratings, when there are examples of him crowing about his show’s numbers. He next went on to say we are entering an era of misinformation, days after the defamation trial. Then, regarding the CBS/60Minutes defamation suit, he “proved” there was no wrongdoing by asking them if they had done anything wrong.
He could not help but dredge up January 6 on Biden’s final day in office. Jake slammed Trump for his rude State of the Union address, well after Democrats had been raging during his speech. He had to be taught about the details of immigrants being eligible to be deported for supporting terrorists.
During the redistricting news cycle, Tapper excused Illinois' gerrymandering and then said GOP states are the worst offenders. In a visit with Seth Meyers, he says he never saw a government silence people like they are now, just as Google publicly admitted its censoring efforts on YouTube. Similarly, he showed he was ignorant when a grand jury indicted former FBI Director James Comey when blaming Trump. Obliviously, the man who once platformed white supremacist Richard Spencer on his program was critical of Trump for not properly condemning Tucker Carlson over his Nick Fuentes interview.
Jake clearly lied about Trump wanting to kill Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, then later bizarrely announced the recently arrested J6 bomber was a “white man.” As the Minnesota fraud story swelled, Jake allowed Rep. Ilhan Omar to spin about the scandal.
Perhaps the most emblematic evidence of the tough year for the CNN veteran was shown in stark fashion, in a matter of weeks. There was a rapid evolution in how his book went from being a celebrated piece of journalism to an indictment of the news industry, then ultimately a hit on his very own credibility. With “Original Sin” out for about one month, Jake saw his ratings plunge by 25 percent, hitting a decade low. To pardon the metaphor, that is a sign of the people deciding to turn the page.
Jake Tapper's CNN show lost 25% of their audience since releasing his book.
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) May 29, 2025
The Lead with Jake Tapper hit a nearly decade-low in ratings in May, averaging 525,000 viewers from April 28 to May 25. pic.twitter.com/G5nnxGRM1A
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