Editor,
Feministing
The 30-year-old Valenti is touted by some as the Gloria Steinem of her generation. Her writing has a conspicuous verve, and her Web site, Feministing, offers “an online community for feminists and their allies,” featuring sharp-edged put-downs of sexism by a team of editors who abhor everything from racism and classism to “ableism” and “transphobia.”
Contributing Writer, The New York Times Magazine
Rieff—the late Susan Sontag’s son—is among the leading commentators on foreign and, in particular, humanitarian policy. He distinguishes himself from the rest of that ilk by his rich, sage prose and the brooding, occasionally Messianic quality of his observations, which are on abundant display in
his new blog for World Affairs Journal.
Columnist &
blogger, The Nation
“Altercation,” the name of his blog at The Nation, sums up Alterman’s penchant for the combative. Can there be a columnist who has more disagreements with more people than he? Probably not, but his ability to enrage some—though not all—of his interlocutors on points of principle and politics is proof of the seriousness with which many of his views are taken, as well as of his unflinching convictions. (Alterman contributes to The Daily Beast.)
‘Question and Answers’ columnist, The New York Times Magazine
Solomon’s front-of-the-book interview column is every Sunday Times reader’s guilty pleasure. The snarkiest of inquisitors, she specializes in the takedown of her subjects (why do they agree to meet her? Is it masochism?), and is particularly adept at playing gleeful “gotcha” with conservatives. (A recent question for Joe Scarborough: “As a former congressman from Pensacola, Fla., who resigned during your fourth term, do you think your criticism of politicians is tinged with envy?”)
Editor, New York Magazine
Probably the least dogmatic journalist on this list, Moss is, nonetheless, a major player in the lifestyle and culture wars that bedevil America. With his energy and inspiration, he has turned a magazine that was little-read and provincial into one of consequence on essential cultural questions of modern American life, particularly among the demographic that voted so overwhelmingly for Barack Obama.
Editor, The Nation
Long a pillar of the graying hippie left, The Nation’s vanden Heuvel has gradually worked her way on to a non-negotiable seat at the Big Media table. After all, what could be more mainstream than a weekly column for The Washington Post (whose editorial page editor recently hired Marc Thiessen, of the Bush administration)? She is a fixture, too, on CNN and MSNBC, where she plays a thoughtful foil to more boisterous commentators.
Blogger,
Think Progress
The 29-year-old Yglesias’s blog is a kind of clearinghouse for progressive policy ideas and political themes. The great service he renders is to distill thinking on the left for popular consumption, and he does so with some panache. There is a sturdy, and appealing, independence to his thought, too. (Yglesias contributes to The Daily Beast.)
Chief International Correspondent, CNN
In an age when meaningful coverage of foreign affairs has all but disappeared from our television, Amanpour continues to fly her flag in the cause of unpronounceable foreign stuff. Now anchor of
her own daily show, she takes us on eye-opening excursions to such places as Iran, Greece, and Haiti, all the while pricking American insularity in that elegantly stern way of hers.
Editor,
Firedoglake
The feisty Hamsher is an activist-journalist whose goal is to drive the Democrats to the left—and to do so single-handedly if need be. She commissions her own polls and has been trying to recruit liberals to take on the Blue Dogs and other moderates. This may be a Pickett's Charge, considering the political climate, but you can't say that she's not a figure to be reckoned with.
Editor, The New Republic
After a long period in which there was no more depressing sight on the newsstand than The New Republic, the magazine, a storied voice for a certain brand of American liberalism, is—Hallelujah!—readable and relevant again. Credit for this must go to Foer, whose skills are as much diplomatic as editorial. The magazine is under crushing financial and staff-cutting pressures: that he puts it out every other week, and puts it out so well, is nothing short of a miracle.
Blogger,
The Washington Post
Forget the left- or right-wing labels: Is Klein the most influential 25-year-old in America? Many in Washington, where he wallows happily and precociously in such issues as health care, would say that he is. He has a blog at the capital’s premier newspaper, and is often at the forefront of liberal commentary on Obamacare, whether it be by making seemingly abstruse policy points or by ad hominem beratings of Joe Lieberman. Although one wonders, sometimes, whether one so young could truly have the expertise his boosters advertise so energetically, there can be no doubt that he is the
jeune homme du jour.
Host,
Thom Hartmann Show
With an audience of over 2 million listeners, Hartmann is the most important liberal voice on radio (no, this is not an oxymoron). He cultivated his audience outside the influence of Air America, and now that the latter is defunct, his influence can only grow. Talkers Magazine, a talk media trade publication,
ranked him the 10th most important talk-radio host in America. No other liberal radio man is within shouting distance of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck. Our advice: Tune in to Thom.
Columnist, The New Yorker
The more bogged down we get in “AfPak,” the more important Steve Coll becomes as the indisputable leader of American writers on that disconcerting subject. Impeccably, and transparently, sourced—unlike some others who hold forth on the Taliban, or the ISI—his rock-solid reporting and astute observations always shed light on one of the murkiest regions on earth.
Editor,
Talking Points Memo
Marshall ensconced himself in the national cerebrum when he was the first to report on the firings of eight U.S. attorneys in the Bush administration, which led to the ignominious departure of Alberto Gonzales, the attorney general. Unlike most bloggers, he and his doughty team do a lot of reporting themselves, invariably from a liberal point of view, and are capable of driving the news cycle (as opposed, merely, to chasing it).
Host,
The Rachel Maddow Show
Maddow rocketed to something approaching cult status in the last year of the Bush administration, with her blunt, cultural-guerrilla methods offering a lift to the spirits in those weary, demoralized times. The question everyone now asks is: How effective can her subversive shtick be with Obama—her man, as it were—in the White House?
Senior Editor, The New Republic
Chait, who writes The New Republic’s TRB column, also pens the liveliest liberal
political blog. He is, in many ways, the epitome of a Cold War liberal: religiously hawkish on matters of foreign policy (particularly those concerning Israel), but a down-the-line liberal on matters domestic, especially economics. Tax policy makes him famously emotional, even vicious.
Senior Editor, The New Yorker
In a world of political commentary dominated increasingly by bloggers straight out of college, Hertzberg continues to offer a grownup alternative of handsome prose, well-marinated opinion, and actual experience of having written speeches for a president of the United States (Jimmy Carter). Although unabashedly high-brow, he has held his own in a public sphere that has grown proudly coarse and anti-intellectual.
Economics Columnist, The New York Times
Leonhardt writes a weekly column on economics for the Times’ news pages, and Washington insiders signal that he is President Obama’s favorite economics writer. Why? Because Leonhardt, on a reliable basis, has explained and defended the administration’s approaches to health-care reform and the stimulus. A recent column, “
Judging Stimulus by Job Data Reveals Success,” was reported thus by Politico: “The White House views this as the seminal piece on the Recovery Act.”
Op-ed columnist, The New York Times
Obama is in office, the Republicans are not… and Frank Rich is still righteously apoplectic about the state of America. Rich’s long, emotional op-eds are among the most viscerally popular with Times readers. His approach to political commentary—one that he shares with Peggy Noonan, on the right—is to treat it as theater, or drama, for review. It is an eye-catching method, when expertly deployed.
Editor,
Daily Kos
Moulitsas, or “Kos,” as he prefers to be called, singlehandedly invented the “netroots.” Another activist-journalist, he is the leader of the Angry Left, which became important in 2003 with the rise of Howard Dean, and which continues to bedevil the Obama administration. Passionate, partisan, and a proud wingnut, his influence is that of the leader of a legion that has to be appeased.
Editorial Page Editor, The Washington Post
Although many on the left would question Hiatt’s presence on this list—his near-neocon position on foreign policy enrages the left-wing blogosphere—there is no doubt at all that he is a traditional liberal in all matters domestic. The steward of a sober and constructive editorial column, he is paid great heed by the administration. He is much less dogmatic, as an editorial page editor, than his counterpart at the Times.
Op-ed Editor, The New York Times
Enormously (if understatedly) influential as the editor of the best op-ed page in America, Shipley wields curatorial powers—and an ability to shape the national debate—that are the envy of editors at other newspapers. Although his stable of regular columnists contains a few duds, he does have at his beck and call some of the finest in the business. His page offers the best “branding” any op-ed author could wish for, and rare indeed is the writer who turns down a Shipley invitation to opine.
Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief,
The Huffington Post
The first unquestionably successful online aggregator, the HuffPost is Ground Zero, Mecca, the primordial cookie jar, for liberal news junkies. Ms. Huffington likes to describe herself as a “curator,” and her formula—a mix of original and excerpted content, along with sassy, partisan commentary—has ensured for her an influence that is much, much greater than the sum of her site’s constituent parts.
Op-ed columnist, The New York Times
The leading liberal political economist, Krugman is among the most influential columnists ever to have written for an American newspaper. Devastating in his opposition to the Bush administration, he has had to put away his nuclear weapons now that there is in the White House a president of his choice. An affinity to Obama has not, however, stopped him from being a sometimes trenchant opponent of policies of which he disapproves, particularly regarding the pace and size of stimulus spending.
Host,
The Daily Show
Why is Jon Stewart No. 1? Because no one can match his reach, and his daily impact on the 25-40 demographic (which put its man in the White House). Because he invariably asks tougher questions than much of the “mainstream” media. Because we don’t see Paul Krugman going on Fox to do battle,
head-to-head, with Bill O’Reilly. Because he will make fun of Obama when Obama needs to be made fun of. And because he has, with his humor and intelligence, captured better than anyone the hypocrisy and absurdity of our media and politics.
