The liberal media has a voice problem — and new research makes that impossible to ignore.
A study from the University of Mississippi examined the most influential non-politician news figures in the 2024 election. Researchers used a weighted survey to determine who Americans trusted most for information. The results should be a wake-up call for anyone on the left side of the media dial.
Joe Rogan topped the list. With 11.4% of respondents naming him as their favorite news influencer, he wasn’t just first — he was dominant. Sean Hannity came in second at 9.6%. Greg Gutfeld followed at 7.3%. Elon Musk and Mark Levin tied at 6.8% to round out the top five.
Lack of Liberals?
Notice anything? None of those five figures could reasonably be called a liberal voice. So where does the left show up?
Jimmy Kimmel cracked the top 10, but let’s be honest — he’s a late-night comedian, not a news influencer. That’s a different lane entirely. Stephen Colbert also made the top 10, sitting at ninth. He fits the same category.
Bill Maher is perhaps the strongest argument for a liberal presence near the top, but even he blends punditry and comedy in a way that muddies the waters.
Rachel Maddow is the first figure on the list you’d call a genuine liberal news influencer — without the comedian asterisk. She landed at 16th.
16th.
For a media environment constantly described as dominated by the left, that ranking demands an explanation. Either A) the “liberal media” label is more mythology than reality, or B) liberal media members are doing a poor job of converting audiences into engaged, loyal followers. Neither answer is flattering.
Think about what that means in practical terms. Conservative media built an ecosystem — from talk radio to podcasts to cable news — that turns casual listeners into passionate advocates. Fox News, independent creators, and podcasters like Rogan didn’t accidentally dominate this list. They built communities, they created habits, and they gave audiences a reason to come back every single day.
Liberal media, by and large, hasn’t done that — at least not at the same scale.
The Fix?
That’s not a political statement. It’s a business and strategy observation. Influence isn’t measured by op-ed column inches or Sunday morning roundtables anymore. It’s measured by who people actually turn to when they want to make sense of the world. This data says conservatives have figured that out. Liberals haven’t.
There’s also a distribution problem worth acknowledging. Conservative voices found homes on platforms — talk radio, podcasting, YouTube — where audiences were already forming habits. Liberal voices often relied on legacy media infrastructure that’s been shedding trust and audience share for years. That bet hasn’t paid off.
The danger for liberal media members is dismissing this data rather than learning from it. It’s easy to question the methodology, challenge the sample, or argue that “influence” is a flawed metric. But that kind of defensive posturing is exactly why the gap keeps widening.
Conservative media built its audience by speaking directly to people, in formats they preferred, on platforms they already used. The data shows that approach worked — and it worked decisively. Until liberal media figures are willing to honestly reckon with that reality, don’t expect the rankings to change.
The scoreboard is up. It doesn’t lie.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
