The 50 Most Powerful People in New York Media

For plenty of moviegoers who’ve now seen The Devil Wears Prada 2, it’s a pleasant exercise in nostalgia. Anne Hathaway and company wear very expensive clothing while again dodging Meryl Streep’s biting remarks, each delivered via her tongue-in-cheek take on Anna Wintour. For journalists, however, this comedy hits a tad too close to home.

Layoffs. Faustian bargains with social media. Whole industries in the hands of ambivalent billionaires. Being forced to book economy … on international flights. These aren’t just plot devices to get the gang back together. These are the realities of working in media in 2026, where the decline of old models demands agility from the legacy companies that want to thrive — while making room for new opportunities, platforms and breakout stars. The Fourth Estate is still flush with power, it’s just more scattered than ever. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “New paradigms take time to reveal themselves,” says Puck co-founder and editor-in-chief Jon Kelly. “The media industry has traditionally rewarded safety: playing by the rules, not screwing up and traditional ladder-climbing.”

To be clear, safety is not guaranteed. Broadcast and cable newsrooms work alongside the specter of Brendan Carr, the Trump-friendly FCC chair actively investigating or at least threatening someone new on the daily. And Silicon Valley, which once established clear parameters for digital success thanks to search engine optimization and Facebook favoritism, has AI overhauling the way readers consume news. And hanging on Amy Poehler’s podcast or making doe eyes with Amelia Dimoldenberg over a plate of chicken tenders are equally as appealing opportunities as a magazine cover profile.

But even amid the wild decentralization of power in media, THR‘s survey of its longtime epicenter reveals that New York City remains an unrivaled stronghold — one populated by more stars than ever before. When asked to define what power in journalism means today, those wielding the most influence (and, in some instances, the biggest budgets) offered plenty of different takes. Audience rapport, consumer trust and editorial independence rank among the most popular responses. Some, like A.G. Sulzberger, offered more nuanced analyses. The chair of the New York Times Co. and publisher of the Gray Lady says power is still in the hands of the reporters. “The internet is overflowing with aggregators and commentators, but there are fewer people doing actual original reporting than ever before,” says Sulzberger. “It’s easier to offer a take than to follow the facts or dig for new ones. But reporting is the greatest contribution news organizations make to the public and the essential ingredient that sustains the rest of the media ecosystem.”

Many simply offered jokes — there are quite a few comedians in this space, after all — that, like the Prada sequel, are funny and unnerving in equal measure. Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon posits that power in media these days is just a matter of “how many times a day the president tweets about you.”

All of their answers are correct, which is why we’ve devoted this list to examining the influence and authority of these power players in a sprawling industry that, even when it makes us fly coach, is still a thrilling — and vital — arena in which to work.

• Dan Abrams

  

  ABRAMS MEDIA NETWORK

  Three decades after breaking out for his coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial on Court TV, the ABC News legal analyst acquired that very channel — folding it into his Law&Crime network in February. One of the most facile entrepreneurs in news media, Abrams hosts and produces the Reelz law enforcement love letter On Patrol: Live, maintains the reins at Mediaite and broadcasts daily on his own SiriusXM show.

  Interview I want to book right now “Former FBI director Chris Wray.”
  
  With two free hours in the city, I’d … “Go to the Bronx Zoo with my five-year-old daughter.”