2025 lookback: Mainstream journalists opt for independent route

The media landscape is more fragmented and diverse than ever before, with the rise of New Media in the form of podcasts, Substacks and other independent journalism platforms offering consumers a wide range of news and analysis options.

Many prominent journalists known as the faces of their respective networks have headed the independent route in 2025, although not entirely by choice. In each case, those who did were much more outspoken than before, suggesting that the corporate shackles of their former employers no longer restricted their true ideas.

Here are five names who left mainstream media last year.

CNN EMPLOYEES ARE SHOCKED BY JIM ACOSTA’S SURPRISE EXIT FROM THE NETWORK

Jim Acosta

known for it melodramatic reporting style Acosta, who served as a White House correspondent and then a news anchor for CNN, announced in January that he was leaving the network after he was offered a midnight slot instead of a daytime slot.

The left-wing anchor, who adds editorial to his coverage of President Donald Trump and others, launched “The Jim Acosta Show” on Substack, where he hosts a liberal podcast as well as blogs and reports.

In one of the year’s strangest moments in journalism, in August Acosta “interviewed” the artificially animated avatar of Joaquin Oliver, the teenager killed in the Parkland massacre, to promote his gun control message.

Although the young man’s father approved of the show, the interview has been subject to significant criticism He spoke about the ethics of putting words into the mouth of a dying person and highlighted Acosta’s hyper-partisan approach.

Joy Reid

JOY REID SAYS MSNBC FIRED HER WITHOUT WARNING, SAYS THE NEWS THAT TRUMP AND GAZA LAID TO THE OVERTHROW OF HER

The longtime news anchor for MSNBC, now known as MS NOW, was abruptly fired from hosting “The ReidOut” in February. Reid suggested it was due to his outspoken stance on the Gaza war and Trump, but said he was never learned of an actual reason for his dismissal.

Reid launched “The Joy Reid Show” in June, where she delivers her far-left commentary and interviews to more than 382,000 subscribers on YouTube and counting.

This year’s highlights, which included numerous interviews on other shows, include him sharing a video suggesting the song “Jingle Bells” was racist, mocking Erika Kirk’s outfit following the assassination of her husband Charlie, and suggesting Trump might not have actually been shot last year.

Terry Moran

The longtime ABC correspondent parted ways with the network in June after he was suspended for taking to social media against Trump and policy adviser Stephen Miller, referring to each as a “world-class hater.”

Moran, who interviewed Trump in the Oval Office just a few weeks ago, went the Substack route and named his site “True Patriotism.”

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He also praised the rise of alternative media, which he is now a part of with his Substack.

“New media is messy, chaotic and sometimes misinformed. But there is no denying that this new journalism is more democratic, more diverse and less captured by corporate interests that claim ‘objectivity’ means silence about reality. The future is here.” he wrote.

chuck todd

Todd left NBC News in January after an 18-year run at the network and relaunched his “Chuck ToddCast” podcast in April.

He stated that he lost faith in the national media when he took action.

CHUCK TODD WARNES DEMS ABOUT FALLING IN TRUMP’S TRAP AND ‘CAUGHT OATH’ ON REDISTRIBUTION

Former NBC host Chuck Todd on an August episode of his podcast. (Screenshot/”The Chuck Toddcast”/YouTube)

“The reason I’m ready to move is because I think the media has a lot of work to do to regain trust, and frankly I don’t think the national media is the place to do that,” Todd said.

The former “Meet the Press” moderator isn’t shy about featuring Democrats on his podcast, but many of his comments Definitely anti-Trump.

Jennifer Rubin

for a long time Washington Post columnist leaves newspaper In January, amid outrage that the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, rescinded the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris for president the year before.

The strident anti-Trump writer, once the paper’s token conservative opinion writer but who veered sharply to the left, started “Same” with Norm Eisen; A “pro-democracy” Substack featuring “fearless and distinctive reported opinions and cultural commentary without fake balances, euphemisms, or gamified political experts.”

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“We have seen corporations and billionaire media owners abuse the loyalty of their audiences and undermine journalism’s vital role in a free democracy,” Rubin said in a statement at the time. “Instead of protecting democratic values, they enabled the gravest threats to democracy. Donald Trump and its allies – just when a strong, independent press is most needed. “We need a truly independent, alternative outlet that is not afraid of the administration and does not want to evade or bend the knee.”