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Tonight, we have a special year-end edition, as we award The Breakers. Our inaugural look back at the best – and worst in the media as reported on in this column.

It’s a rare festive free edition for all our subscribers. (Just a heads up that tonight’s letter may clip for Gmail users and is best read in a web browser by clicking here).

The Breaker bean counter won’t let us splurge on little golden statues just yet. But we want our winners to know that the competition was ripe for a Breaker award, and the fact that they won is a lifetime achievement in itself. 

A quick programming note – we are off on New Year's Day. Happy New Year's! We will be in your inbox on Tuesday with more saucy scooplets. Speaking of, here’s a late-breaking scooplet:

(Exclusive.) The final ever print edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is now at the printers before hitting newsstands tomorrow and being delivered to subscribers in the morning.

In August, The AJC announced it was phasing out print in favor of doubling down on its website AJC.com, its mobile app, along with video, newsletters, podcasts, and live events. 

The AJC has exclusively shared tomorrow’s final A1 with Breaker readers.

“The bond we have with our subscribers isn’t tied to ink and paper, but rather what’s inside. It’s about our journalism. Our people. Our service to the community,” AJC President and Publisher Andrew Morse wrote to subscribers Tuesday in a note reviewed by Breaker.

 “Change is hard. Especially at a moment in history when it seems everything around us is changing all at once,” Morse continued. “But change and reinvention flow through the veins of Atlanta. There is a reason the Phoenix is an iconic symbol of the city. This city has always stood fearlessly at the forefront of change. It deserves a news source, equally fearless, to write its next chapter. That’s our commitment to you, and we’re not going anywhere.”

So without further ado, here are the 2025 Breakers: over 14 categories we toast the best – and worst of 2025.

We described them earlier this year as having “more conflicts than a Murdoch family group chat,” and Puck certainly lived up to the mantle in 2025. In July, we revealed how peerless Wall Street scribe Bill Cohan’s son had been working in the marketing department of HBO Max. But Cohan, who has written dozens of columns about WBD CEO David Zaslav, had not disclosed it to his readers (Cohan did tell us on the record that he had disclosed it to Puck founder Jon Kelly). Curiously, Cohan’s coverage of WBD and Zas ground to a halt soon after we published this scooplet.

The RedBird AGM turned out some of the media's biggest power players – Gerry Cardinale, Jeff Shell, Mark Shapiro, Chris Wallace, Bari Weiss, Graydon Carter, and Matthew Garrahan.

The “RedBird uniform” was the attire of the day – blue jacket, blue pants with white shoes. “The shoes showed more individuality,” an attendee noted to Breaker. “They went from pointer leather to comfortable walking sneakers.” 

But there was a total knockout with the fashions on the field in PR guru Jolie Hunt. Hunt motioned Breaker to take a closer look at her tights, which, on further inspection, revealed the words “made you look.” Consider Breaker fooled…this time.

A very close second prize goes to CBS CEO George “Cheeky” Cheeks. Bucking the RedBird fashion trend, Cheeks arrived in a seasonally appropriate linen suit in a color best described as salmon or perhaps burnt peach.

And finally, the unenviable wooden spoon for this category goes to Puck’s Jon Kelly. Kelly, in his tech bro inspired plain tight-fitted sweater and chinos, takes out the Queer Eye for the Puck Guy award with a passable look, but definitely in need of a makeover. Hopefully, Puck’s fashion guru, Lauren Sherman, can give her boss some top tips to smarten up his sartorial look.

Thankfully, there wasn’t tough competition for this gong. Daily Beast podcaster Michael Wolff has it sewn up after a series of emails he exchanged with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were made public. Despite this revelation, a number of outlets continue to platform Wolff.

The crafty accounting award goes to New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien, who announced back in November that The Gray Lady had added a whopping 460,000 new subscribers in their third quarter. An extraordinary figure that could surely only be explained via a footnoted technicality, right? Spot on.

Scandal PR, bailing big names out of sticky situations, was perhaps 2025’s most booming employment sector, given how many public identities can’t help but put their foot in it.

Every kingdom must have its King or Queen, and this year, the Scandal PR Operator of the Year award goes to Risa Heller. Heller had plenty to chew on, taking on CNN’s Chief Washington correspondent, Jake Tapper, and Axios’ Alex Thompson ahead of the launch of their book Original Sin. She also masterminded the rollout of Olivia Nuzzi’s American Canto.

Our runner-up, and only by the finest of margins, was Herald PR founder Juda Engelmayer. Not afraid of a challenge, Engelmayer welcomed Carlos Watson, who was charged with defrauding investors, disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, and convicted sex trafficker Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to his spin stable in 2025.

Believe it or not, this will be the second prestigious prize awarded to Bloomberg this year without the prior knowledge of Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. Back in June, we reported that Bloomberg CityLab contributing writer Alexandra Lange had won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism after Lange’s editor, Kriston Capps, bypassed Bloomberg’s official awards process and quietly submitted for the Pulitzer without informing anyone within the organization.

It was a no-contest when it came to selecting Gaurav Srivastava and beltway publication The Hill to receive the D.C. Reputation Laundering Award. So, who is Gaurav Srivastava, you might ask? A quick Google reveals a Wall Street Journal story from August of last year, headlined ‘A Fake Spy, Russian Oil and $1 Million Funneled to Democrats.’ What better way to flush your unenviable reputation than by launching a new podcast with a flashy soiree at The Ned? Ironically, he previously appeared on "Going Rogue” with Lara Logan, where the title of the episode was “reputation warfare.”

You know there’s some people who just can’t leave their work at work. In June, the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) met in New Orleans for their annual conference, part of which included a cruise on the City of New Orleans paddle wheeler. But when the ship failed to leave the dock, suspicions grew, and an impromptu investigation was launched. Needless to say, accountability and reputation were maintained on all fronts.

The annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference was once again held in July, bringing together the biggest movers and shakers from the world of tech, media, and finance. Let’s be honest, not a single invitee has a fashionista’s reputation, but there were a few notable mentions as seen through the eyes of snapper Kevin Dietsch and writer David Mack. 

Honorable mentions go to ICON CEO Jason Ballard’s massive cowboy hat (everything’s bigger in Texas), Ferrari Chairman John Elkann’s Kraftwerk-inspired sunnies, Apple Senior VP Eddy Cue’s Justin Timberlake-attributed double denim look, and News Corp CEO Robert Thomson going undercover as a member of a Seattle grunge band.

In 2025, the scrappy start-up Breaker’s reporting continued to set the news agenda – but don’t just take our word for it. Here’s a selection of articles from our competitors crediting Breaker:

We first reported in October on a dinner between Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch and top News Corp editors despite Trumps $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, and CNBC gave Breaker full credit.

“Breaker Media on Tuesday night reported that Trump hosted his fellow billionaire Murdoch and company at the White House last Thursday.”

In September, we were the first to break the news that Puck was set to acquire Air Mail. The New York Times quickly confirmed our reporting.

Axios also backed our reporting on the sale of Air Mail to Puck when they published their same-day account of the sale.

 “On Thursday, Breaker reported the parties had entered an agreement.”

When Breaker reported on a number of high-profile staffers fleeing The Free Press, The Guardian took notice.

“In May, the media newsletter Breaker reported that the Free Press had seen a number of notable departures amid its rapid expansion and that staff had been skeptical of Weiss’s “chaotic” management style.”

While staking out the RedBird Capital AGM, we couldn’t help but spot Bari Weiss’ six-pack of beefy bodyguards; turns out the New York Post had their eyes glued as well.

“Weiss was photographed by Breaker News as she was surrounded by a protective detail that formed a “ring” around the new CBS News boss — including one bodyguard who was described as having “chiseled looks” and a “buff physique” reminiscent of Hollywood hunk Hugh Jackman.”

It was a big scoop when Breaker spoke with Hunter Biden about Jake Tapper. We asked if it was true that Tapper called him, wanting an exclusive as his brother Beau lay dying of brain cancer? The New York Times followed up on the yarn. 

“Even Hunter Biden, the former president’s son, got in the mix. He went on the record this week with Breaker Media, a media newsletter, to say he had been “furious” with Mr. Tapper over past reporting.”

When Breaker revealed that Politico used some questionable tactics to lure Donald Trump in for an interview, some staffers weren’t happy. It’s a point that was echoed by CNN’s Brian Stelter.

“Several Politico journalists told Breaker's Lachlan Cartwright that "they felt uncomfortable about how the outlet landed the interview, making comparisons to how FIFA awarded Trump their 'inaugural peace prize' at last week's World Cup draw."

The Breaker Pod came roaring back in September with Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough, revealing details about his relationship with Donald Trump.

“Joe Scarborough revealed that he continues to speak with the man he has publicly excoriated, President Donald Trump, in a conversation with Breaker editor Lachlan Cartwright.”

“Lachlan Cartwright, the mischievous media reporter behind Breaker Media, has been a thorn in both parties’ sides throughout the deal. Cartwright was the first to report that Puck had entered into an exclusive agreement to buy Air Mail, far in advance of the planned announcement.”

“Although he has certainly been a thorn in the side of media giants, the establishment seems to be willing to play Cartwright’s game. Mega-editors like Daily Beast founder Tina Brown, former Hollywood Reporter co-president Janice Min and the New Yorker’s David Remnick have appeared on the Breaker podcast.”

Breaker on The Press Box with Bryan Curtis and David Shoemaker.

Breaker on The Ankler Agenda with Elaine Low, Sean McNulty, and Natalie Jarvey.

Breaker on Channels with Peter Kafka.

Breaker on The Rebooting with Brian Morrissey and Sara Fischer.