For decades, America’s most trusted figures were the men and women delivering the nightly news.

Millions once regularly watched broadcasting icons such as Walter Cronkite, Diane Sawyer, and Edward R. Murrow. These were the anchoring legends, whose calm voices led the nation through major events and crises.

However, this era is quickly disappearing. As indicated by the DailyMail+ Power List of America’s leading news anchors, the dynamics are transforming, and the media world is becoming increasingly fragmented.

While certain conventional TV anchors continue to attract dedicated audiences, a rising number of people are now exploring alternative sources. Influential YouTubers, podcasters, and former network personalities who have ventured into their own media businesses are swiftly gaining prominence.

Based on exclusive polling, our Power List measures public sentiment around likeability, trustworthiness, perceived bias and knowledge.

It reveals who Americans really trust to deliver the news – and just how deeply divided the country has become.

In a year marked by falling audience numbers and upheaval behind the scenes, CNN finally has something to celebrate.

Anderson Cooper has been crowned America’s best-loved news anchor in our DailyMail+ Power List, out of 30 hand-picked personalities dominating media right now.

The 58-year-old CNN stalwart, who reportedly rakes in $18 million a year, ranks top in almost every category bar one – neutrality – which is perhaps unsurprising for a proud liberal like Cooper.

His tenure at the network has spanned some 23 years and he has been a constant throughout the several rounds of layoffs since new chairman and CEO Mark Thompson took over in 2023.

One insider said: ‘If Anderson left CNN, it would be an earthquake – both symbolically and strategically. He’s not just a host. He’s CNN’s last true brand anchor – the face of the network’s attempt to balance credibility, curiosity, and class. His departure would surely leave the network rudderless.’

However, behind the headlines, the survey is grim reading for executives still forking out multi-million dollar salaries to top talent.

In the most bleak finding, all anchors across the board scored below 50 percent for bias at a time when trust in mainstream media has already slumped to record lows – and shows no signs of improving.

Jon Stewart, the host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, finishes in second place overall ahead of ABC’s David Muir in third and Cooper’s silver-haired colleague Wolf Blitzer in fifth.

Fox News’ Harris Faulkner is the top ranking female host and the only woman to make it into the top five, coming in fourth place.

Her colleagues Jesse Watters, Laura Ingraham and Bret Baier clocked in sixth, eighth and ninth respectively, ensuring Fox has a dominant showing in the top ten.

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos finishes in in seventh after signing a new year multi-year deal in December, and despite Donald Trump suing him for defamation for falsely suggesting on-air that the president had been found civilly ‘liable for rape’.

The highest-rated pundit from the MAGA media world is Charlie Kirk, the Founder and President of conservative youth group Turning Point USA, who lands at tenth.

His growing podcast audience and massive following as earned him a slot guest-hosting Fox & Friends Weekend.

62-year-old Stewart retired from The Daily Show in 2015 after 26 years in the chair, only to return to screens last year, telling viewers he wanted a ‘place to unload thoughts’ during the presidential election.

Stewart prides himself on taking both sides of the political divide to task. So he likely won’t be pleased to learn that despite dominating categories such as likability and knowledgeability – and even ranking as the anchor viewers would most like to spend time with – he ranks near the bottom of the leaderboard when it comes to bias.

It’s not all good news: fired MSNBC host Joy Reid places bottom overall as America’s least favorite host, just below her beleaguered former colleagues Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

Not only is Reid, 56, seen as the least likable host – she is also viewed as the least knowledgeable.

Though perhaps it’ll be some succor that Scarborough and Brzezinski pip her to the title of America’s least truthful pundit.

An MSNBC insider didn’t hold back.

‘Joy is very smart and she’s actually good at what she does. The issue is that you never know exactly what you’re going to get,’ the source said.

‘She was great when she was in a good mood, but Lord help you if she wasn’t. She’d be abrupt and critical. A little mean. I don’t feel like she’s a bad person but she wasn’t pleasant to work with.’

Reid – who was abruptly let go by MSNBC in February after more than a decade at the network, and amid a storm of antisemitism allegations – did not respond to request for comment.

Jim Acosta, who quit CNN rather than be moved to an undesirable early morning slot, has been voted the second least likable anchor in another blow to a career he’s trying to resurrect.

NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo doesn’t fare much better. Not only does he rank last on the question of who viewers would most like to spend time with, he’s also seen as untrustworthy and unlikeable.

Reid’s former MSNBC colleague Rachel Maddow – who extraordinarily condemned Reid’s ouster live on-air as a ‘mistake’ – has also taken an ego hit.

She’s seen as particularly unlikable, with viewers placing her toward the bottom of the rankings in almost every category.

And at CNN, rising network star and newly minted Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins may want to avoid Anderson Cooper for a few days.

In what is perhaps the most surprising result of the bunch, Collins ranks almost last across multiple categories – often only beaten to the bottom spots by Joy Reid, and Scarborough and Brzezinski.

The 33-year-old is seen as untrustworthy, unlikeable and unknowledgeable.

Collins has made her name for herself sparring with President Trump and his top allies in clashes that have sparked insults and furious responses.

In April, Trump called Collins a ‘low-rated anchor’ to her face in the Oval Office when she peppered him with questions over the deportation of an El Salvadoran migrant.

At a CNN town hall in 2023, Trump called her a ‘nasty person’ when she pressed him on his handling of classified documents. 

On the flip side, over at Fox News it’s not just Faulkner who has reason to celebrate. Her colleagues Baier, Watters and Ingraham are all seen as particularly likable, knowledgeable and fun.

At ABC, primetime-titans Stephanopoulos and Muir were both declared two of the top four most knowledgeable. They’re also both viewed as truthful.

Muir has been the permanent host of ABC World News Tonight for 11 years.

One network insider said of Muir: ‘It’s pretty clear this is a guy who doesn’t phone it in… and viewers clearly connect with his compassion when he reports on the ground.’

Looking to the less traditional pundits, podcasters Joe Rogan and Megyn Kelly have flexed their muscles in the rankings.

Rogan is seen as likable, fun and knowledgeable, while former darling of cable Kelly – who has recently launched her own media empire – is not only viewed as knowledgeable, but clocks in fifth on the question of which pundit viewers would most like to spend time with.

A former Kelly staffer said: ‘She’s tough as hell, but always the most interesting – and interested – person in the room.’

Our results also reflect just how divided Americans have become.

Cooper, for example, was considered the most knowledgeable by Democrats but least impartial by Republicans.

Podcast titan Joe Rogan and Fox News behemoth Sean Hannity are the most well-liked among Republican voters.

Hannity, the highest paid on the list, raking in an estimated $45 million a year from Fox, was one of the least liked overall, languishing in 25th place.

But Republicans rate him: not only was he the second most-liked, after Rogan, but also the third most-knowledgeable, after Rogan and Tucker Carlson.

Rogan, whose daily audience of 11 million listeners far exceeds all of traditional news shows, was also ranked as the host Republicans would most like to spend time with.

Tucker Carlson and Kelly were ranked among the most knowledgeable by GOP respondents.

Cooper, Blitzer, ABC’s David Muir and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow were the favorites of Democrats.

Television, radio and film professor Robert Thompson, of Syracuse University, told Daily Mail the results tell us as much about the audience as the anchors’ performance.

‘You can be the most truthful person in the world, but if you’re on Fox or MSNBC, you’re still seen as biased,’ he said.

Earlier this week, we kickstarted the DailyMail+ Power List by revealing the best-loved (and most loathed) morning-show hosts.

Al Roker and his colleagues over at NBC’s Today came out on top in our breakfast-host rankings. Check out the full leaderboard here.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll bring you our power list rankings for more figures in the world of media. US politics, fashion and sport.