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The media landscape is more fractured and diverse than ever, with the rise of new media in the form of podcasts, Substacks and other independent journalism platforms providing consumers with a wide range of information and analysis options.
Several prominent journalists, best known as the faces of their respective networks, have chosen the path to independence in 2025, but not all by choice. Those who did are, in any case, even more outspoken than before, suggesting that the corporate chains of their former employers no longer curbed their true opinions.
Here are five people who left mainstream media in the last year.
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Jim Acosta
Known for his melodramatic reporting style as a White House correspondent and then news anchor at CNN, Acosta announced in January that he was leaving the network after being offered a midnight time slot instead of the daytime slot.
The left-leaning anchor, who has injected editorialism into his reporting on President Donald Trump and others, launched “The Jim Acosta Show” on Substack, where he hosts a liberal podcast as well as blogs and features.
In one of the most bizarre moments of the year in journalism, Acosta in August “interviewed” the artificially animated avatar of deceased teenager Joaquin Oliver, who died in the Parkland massacre, to promote a message about gun control.
Although the teen’s father approved of the stunt, the interview drew significant criticism over the ethics of essentially putting words into a dead person’s mouth and highlighted Acosta’s hyperpartisan approach.
Joy Reid
JOY REID SAYS MSNBC FIRED HER WITHOUT WARNING, SPECULATES HER COVERAGE OF TRUMP AND GAZA DROVE ON EXCURSION
The longtime MSNBC anchor — now known as MS NOW — was abruptly fired in February after hosting “The ReidOut.” Reid assumed it was because of her outspoken stance on the Gaza war and Trump, but said she was never given a real reason for the ouster.
Reid launched “The Joy Reid Show” in June, where she brought her far-left commentary and interviews to more than 382,000 subscribers on YouTube and counting.
Some of her highlights this year, which included numerous interviews on other shows, included sharing a video suggesting the song “Jingle Bells” is racist, mocking Erika Kirk’s attire following her husband Charlie’s assassination, and suggesting that maybe Trump wasn’t really shot last year.
Terry Moran
The longtime ABC correspondent parted ways with the network in June after being suspended for his social media comments against Trump and political adviser Stephen Miller, when he called each man a “world-class hater.”
Moran, who had interviewed Trump a few weeks earlier in the Oval Office, took the Substack route, naming his site “Real Patriotism.”
EX-ABC NEWS JOURNALIST ADMITS EMPLOYER BIAS AGAINST TRUMP DUE TO LACK OF “DIVERSITY OF VIEWPOINTS”
Terry Moran spent nearly 28 years at ABC News. (Paula Lobo/Getty)
He also welcomed the rise of alternative media of which he is now part with his Substack.
“The new media is messy, chaotic and sometimes uninformed. But there is no denying that this new journalism is more democratic, more diverse and less captivated by corporate interests claiming that ‘objectivity’ means silence on reality. The future is here,” he wrote.
Chuck Todd
Todd left NBC News in January after 18 years with the network and relaunched his podcast “Chuck ToddCast” in April.
He cited a loss of confidence in the national media when he made the decision.
CHUCK TODD WARNS DEMS FALLING INTO TRUMP’S TRAP, ‘TAKEING THE BAIT’ ON REDISTRIBUTION
Former NBC anchor Chuck Todd during an August episode of his podcast. (Screenshot/”The Chuck Toddcast”/YouTube)
“The reason I’m willing to move is I think the media has a lot of work to do to regain trust and I think, frankly, the national media is not the place to do it,” Todd said.
The former “Meet the Press” moderator is not shy about attacking Democrats on his podcast, but much of his comments are decidedly anti-Trump.
Jennifer Rubin
The longtime Washington Post columnist left the paper in January due to anger at owner Jeff Bezos, who rescinded the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris for president the previous year.
The fiercely anti-Trump writer, who was once the paper’s token conservative opinion editor but has shifted sharply to the left, launched “The Contrarian” with Norm Eisen, a “pro-democracy” subset that would feature “fearless, distinctive reported opinions and cultural commentary without phony balance, euphemisms or gamified political pundits.”
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“We have seen corporations and billionaire media owners abuse the loyalty of their audiences and undermine the vital role of journalism in a free democracy,” Rubin said in a statement at the time. “Instead of safeguarding democratic values, they have enabled the gravest threats to democracy – Donald Trump and his allies – at the very time when a strong, independent press is most essential.
