News Insiders Pick 2024’s Most Historic Moments: ‘The Year of Trump’
We’ve arrived at the final Friday of 2024 and as Tom Lehrer so aptly put it decades ago—that was the year that was. But TVNewser suspected that news industry insiders probably had more to say about the historic 12 months Americans watched unfold on their outlets of choice, whether that was legacy media or social media.
This year’s major narratives was naturally led by a U.S. presidential contest between Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris that resulted in President-elect Trump returning to the Oval Office. But 2024 also saw the world get reinvested in the Olympics via the Paris Summer Games, as well as fresh developments in the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, and continued signs of how climate change is impacting the planet.
To help put 2024 in context, we asked executives and executive producers at all the major networks to answer two questions about the year that was:
1. When historians look back on 2024 a decade from now, what are the news moment(s)—other than Election Night—that you expect will define the year?
2. Complete this sentence: “This year, I was proudest of our news organization when…”
Read their many and varied responses below.
Simone Swink, executive of ABC News’ Good Morning America
1. In politics—President Biden’s interview with George Stephanopoulos stands out. On July 2nd, George called me to say that Biden wanted to sit down with him later that week in Madison, Wisconsin. Stakes were high as this was just days after the June debate. The pressure—intense. The interview—straightforward, fair, and a vital public service.
The Debate—ABC News landing a key debate in the election cycle was also a huge moment in politics – it ended up being the only debate between now President-Elect Trump and Vice President Harris. David Muir and Linsey Davis asked tough questions of both candidates and the candidates had a chance to make their case to the country.
The Rise of Women’s Basketball—Outside of politics, the moments of joy and celebration around women’s sports—especially basketball—was an exciting story to cover this year. Robin Roberts‘ interview with Caitlin Clark in March was right as the excitement went into overtime and later in the year we welcomed the WNBA Champs, the New York Liberty, live into our GMA studio.
The Personal Journey—Closer to home, hearing firsthand how Michael Strahan and his daughter Isabella dealt with a tough and scary medical journey—sharing her story to help others—was a moment that defined 2024 on a personal level for their family and our GMA family.
The Economy, Small Businesses and America—You may not think of our GMA series “Deals and Steals” as a story, but it is. It’s the story of small businesses in this country and having their products and backstories showcased by the indefatigable Tory Johnson and the GMA team. More than 500 small businesses were featured on deals on GMA, GMA3 and GMA Saturday and Sunday this year, some of whom credit Tory with helping their business grow during difficult times.
2. This year, I was proudest of our news organization when our GMA team partnered with our local owned stations and ABC affiliates all over the southeastern U.S. after Hurricane Helene hit to cover the storm damage and raise money and awareness over five days of nonstop coverage. It’s important to use our platform to help our fellow Americans
The view from the ABC News debate media room
Naja Nielsen, digital director of BBC News
1. Well, it’s definitely a year worthy of a place in history books. I have felt more than ever that we at BBC News cover history as it unfolds. The rise of AI, the explosion of disinformation, the very consequential election results in so many countries, and equally consequential wars. I also feel it was a year when it became clearer than ever what is worth protecting and fighting for—trust, democracy, a shared conversation across many different views for example. News and journalism you can trust, along with constructive and respectful debate, is more important than ever before.
2. This year I was proudest of our news organization when we collaborated across the world, among different teams, newsrooms, and countries to report on the recent events unfolding in Syria, where the BBC were the first western journalists in Damascus. It is an example of how we report from every corner of the globe and bring access to the most important stories across broadcast, digital, and streaming in a way that no one else can. The center of BBC News is our journalism, and we remain committed to the value of reporting, having boots on the ground with real journalists doing real journalism, talking to the people, both those with power and those without, and reporting the reality based on facts and what we learn from the widest possible range of sources.
Ed O’Keefe, senior White House and political correspondent for CBS News
1. History will long remember June 27-July 21, 2024: The month that reshaped American politics most of all.
More specifically, it might train its eye on what transpired between roughly 6:15 p.m. on July 13 and 1:46 p.m. on July 21—the span from when a bullet grazed former president Donald Trump and nearly killed him in western Pennsylvania, to when President Biden, fighting off a bout of COVID-19, opted to drop out of the presidential race. It was the most intense period of my political journalism career.
What I will remember most of all about this consequential stretch is that my family, who rarely gets to see me in action, was there for both the start and end of the span. By chance, my wife was with me in New York the night of the Biden-Trump debate and got to watch alongside the CBS News team from our Times Square studios, giving her a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of how we do our work on and off-camera. And on July 21, I was with my daughters in a dark movie theater—trying to sneak in some valuable “papa” time at the 1:40 p.m. showing of Despicable Me 4—when Biden’s X post announcing his exit stunned us all. Needless to say, I didn’t see the end of the movie, but my young girls witnessed in real time what it takes to do my work.
My honorable mention for big news moments would be the collapse of Syria and how it started to reshape geopolitics. While it’s still quite recent, I believe the end of the Bashar al-Assad regime is a stark reminder of how conflicts separated by thousands of miles are becoming more interconnected.
Scott Warren, general manager, president of CBS Bay Area (KPIX-TV)
2. This year, I was proudest of our news organization when we took bold steps telling our local and national weather stories in real-time, 3D, immersive AR/VR. At CBS Bay Area we are producing the entire news in all AR/VR, a first for any local station.
Dan Colarusso, senior vice president of business news at CNBC
1. When historians look back on 2024, they will remember it as a year that defied expectations and the lessons of history. The market and economy roared while a nation voted out the administration that presided over it. The rise of the Artificial Intelligence economy was a sign that promise outstrips fear.
2. This year, I was proudest of our news organization when we were able to pivot to cover the AI revolution and market rally by embracing both the possible and the skepticism, and when we covered Election Night with a total commitment to what makes CNBC valuable to its core audience. We had a plan and maintained the drama of the vote without wavering from it.
Artificial intelligence continues to make its presence felt in journalism in 2024
David Chalian, senior vice president, Washington bureau chief and political director at CNN
1. The historic CNN presidential debate in June between President Biden and President Trump was certainly a defining moment of the year and a defining moment in Joe Biden’s 52-year career in national politics. It was the spark that lit the fuse that ended with an unprecedented change at the top of the Democratic ticket a mere 107 days prior to Election Day.
2. This year, I was proudest of our news organization for delivering on our commitment to put the voters at the very center of our political coverage. We, of course, covered the candidates and the campaigns and the daily political combat on the trail, but we made more space than ever before to keep the voices of the voters at the heart of our coverage across all of our platforms. That proved very helpful in keeping our audiences informed about what was driving their voting decisions, which was often not the same things that were dominating the news headlines of the day.
Jay Wallace, president and executive editor of Fox News Media
1. That first presidential debate on June 27th—standing in the control room that night I thought we might be witnessing the most consequential debate of the television age. It was a domino that changed a national election in ways we had never seen. Many books will be written about the summer of 2024.
2. This year, I was proudest of our news organization when the open rolled at 6 p.m. on Election Night. Hearing Brit Hume’s voice tee up the story of Democracy 2024 meant we had met the moment of the past four years and were ready to cover another presidential election with the best team and the best technology.
Meghan Rafferty, Executive Producer of NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
1. Beyond politics, I think the rapid innovation we’re seeing in 2024 will be something for the history books. From the explosion of artificial intelligence to breakthroughs in weight loss medication, it’s extraordinary. There’s a lot of change happening in Americans’ lives, which is something we aim to explore each broadcast. Additionally, the audience’s embrace of positive news has been quite inspiring. We launched our series “There’s Good News Tonight” across all seven nights of our broadcast because of that and sent Lester to the Eclipse at the Indy 500 and to Paris for two weeks for the Olympics to capture that widening interest in sports, culture, and the hope out there.
2. I am always proud when we make bets on original impactful stories that go beyond the headlines. For example, our in-depth investigation into how a Texas medical school dissected the unclaimed bodies of the poor and sold and leased them out without families’ consent, as well as our report on medical debt that led to 11,500 families seeing their own debt wiped away.
Lester also conducted the first television interview with Robert Roberson, the man set to be executed in what would be the first for “shaken baby syndrome,” a scrutinized diagnosis. In their interview, Roberson asked the Governor to pardon him, and insisted it was a murder he did not commit. The interview ignited a national conversation about the reliability of forensic science and resulted in a decision to temporarily halt his death, hours from his execution. These original reports on Nightly News are proof journalism can make a difference and can drive accountability in a powerful way.
David Gelles, Executive Producer of NBC News’ Meet the Press with Kristen Welker
1. President Biden’s debate performance, the assassination attempt on Trump, and Biden dropping out of the race were the biggest political moments of the year other than Election Night.
2. I’m proud of how our news organization approached Kristen Welker’s exclusive interview with President-elect Trump, his first network interview since winning the election. We decided to focus on getting answers on what he will do in office, resulting in an incredible amount of news and answers to the questions the American people have been waiting for. We released the full transcript and full video on NBCNews.com and YouTube for all to see, and so far, the full interview has been viewed by over six million people on YouTube, with over 50 million views on TikTok. It’s a great moment for NBC News and Meet the Press.
Matt King, vice president of news at NewsNation
1. Historians will look back at 2024 as The Year of Trump. From the mugshot to the White House, the ‘Comeback Don’ created a breakneck political news cycle the likes journalism has never seen before. In a five-month span, America watched one historic event after another: Biden’s fateful debate, two Trump assassination attempts, Biden bowing out of the race, Harris leaping to the top of the ticket, and a warp-speed campaign that ended with Trump’s return to the Oval Office.
In the midst of it all, several other stories captivated the nation. We saw the immigration crisis spread to places far beyond the border, Sean Combs‘ fall from grace, UFO investigations, back-to-back hurricanes, the Caitlin Clark effect, Swifties, and a solar eclipse that reminded the world there is something out there much bigger than us all.
2. This year, I was proudest of our news organization when we achieved NewsNation’s vision since our inception: becoming a 24/7 cable news network for all Americans.
Caitlin Clark was one of 2024’s biggest non-political stories
Sara Just, senior executive producer of PBS News Hour Productions and senior vice president of WETA
1. Certainly, the election of 2024 was an historic one, starting with the debate in June that changed the race (and undermined the “debates don’t matter” argument of years past) and then President Biden’s decision to drop out of the race in July. There have also been history making stories around the world this year, from the fall of the Assad regime in Syria just this month, or the war in Lebanon that seems to have rewritten the power structure in that contentious region.
2. This year, I was proudest of our news organization when we punch above our weight. We are a smaller newsroom than almost any other national broadcast and digital outlet, but our small and mighty team has broken records all year with creativity and ambition to bring our journalism to wider audiences on multiple platforms. The broadcast and digital collaboration has been humming all year but was especially apparent during the two political conventions.
Matt Simon, vice president of Scripps News
1. Putting aside the historic developments in the 2024 election—from President Biden’s decision to not seek re-election, to Vice President Harris’ groundbreaking nomination, to President Trump’s comeback to win another term—the breakthroughs in AI have significantly begun to impact our lives. Though ChatGPT launched in late 2022, as a society we began grappling with AI in a new way in 2024.
Nvidia—a computer hardware manufacturing company—had its revenue more than double as A.I. integration accelerated in everything from traffic lights to cars, medicine to education, and agriculture to office work. Scripps established new AI guidelines and AI-focused positions including a director of newsroom AI and a vice president of emerging technology operations as we evaluate tools that allow our newsrooms to foster innovation and creativity.
2. This year, I was proudest of our news organization when we persevered through industry challenges and business strains to continue producing high quality, compelling news programming with sustained viewership growth. As we ramped up our deployments and coverage of the 2024 presidential election, we were simultaneously saying goodbye to far too many of our colleagues as we refocused the business on a streaming-first operation that also better supported our local newsrooms. We are now a much more nimble news organization that is better able to respond to this rapidly evolving industry. In business terms, I’m proud that our weekly hours of viewing and revenue continue to grow.
