5 media figures to watch in 2024 

With a presidential election on the horizon and major questions facing the future of the news business, 2024 is likely to be a pivotal year for some of the country’s most prominent media personalities and executives.   

Here are five figures across the media to watch in 2024.   

Elon Musk 

Musk spent much of 2023 as the center of major controversies and has shown no sign of moving away from the spotlight in the coming year.   

The billionaire tech mogul is likely to drive news cycles for months to come over his handling of X, formerly known as Twitter, and near-constant commentary on political and cultural issues.  

Musk notably will face a major crisis of his own making at X heading into 2024 with one recent analysis estimating a widespread advertiser boycott over Musk’s conduct could cost the company more than $75 million in lost revenue.  

Musk himself acknowledged 2024 could be a difficult year for X because of the boycotts, going so far in a recent interview to say it could “kill the company.”

A businessman turned part-time online influencer who often spends time boosting conservative pundits and content creators on his newest tech toy, Musk’s political rhetoric and business decisions in 2024 will have meaningful consequences for both the companies he owns and the broader news-consuming public.  

Mark Thompson   

Thompson, who took over this year for embattled CNN chief Chris Licht, will have his work cut out for him in 2024.  

Licht spent just more than a year on the job and oversaw the network during a time of near-constant internal strife, public criticisms over the channel’s tone and programming and sluggish ratings.

Thompson will be aiming to have a less rocky 2024 as CNN ramps up its coverage of next fall’s presidential election.  

The network still faces major scrutiny over its coverage of former President Trump and conservatives, is likely to suffer further pain from increased cord-cutting and broadcasts multiple shows that rate among the lowest on any of the three major cable news networks.  

Staffers have so far spoken positively of Thompson, whose arrival signals a new era at CNN that comes on the heels of a chaotic 2023 many at the network are happy to see come to an end.  

Suzanne Scott 

Fox’s CEO oversaw the network’s coverage of the 2020 election, portions of which resulted in a massive $787 million payment to Dominion Voting Systems to settle claims of defamation out of court more than two years later.  

It was an embarrassing ordeal for Fox, which in 2024 will be looking to rebuild its reputation among mainstream media outlets while also retaining its status as the go-to channel for conservative commentary and opinions.  

There are signs Fox is making an effort to move on from the Dominion saga, with Scott revamping the network’s prime-time lineup and notching three big ratings wins late in 2023 with two widely watched prime time GOP debates and a similar event featuring Govs. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.).   

Scott, as ever, will be under pressure in the coming year to deliver continued ratings dominance for the cable news leader without bending totally to the partisan leanings of Fox’s largely conservative audience. A recent New York Times/Siena poll found 13 percent of viewers listed Fox as the news source they turned to most often compared to 10 percent who listed CNN and three percent who chose MSNBC.  

Scott, as ever, will be under pressure in the coming year to deliver continued ratings dominance for the cable news leader without bending totally to the partisan leanings of Fox’s largely conservative audience.  

Complicating matters for Scott will be the likely intensifying criticisms coming from Trump, whom Fox helped propel to the White House in 2016 but has more recently been on the receiving end of some of his sharpest complaints about the media.  

Bob Iger   

The coming year is likely to be chock-full of major tests for Disney’s chief executive.  

Observers in the news media specifically will be watching what Iger ultimately decides to do with its linear television arms, including ABC and ESPN, which he suggested this summer might not be part of the company’s “core business.”   

After adding a reported 7 million subscribers to its paid streaming service in 2023, how much further Iger pushes Disney into a streaming future will be among the biggest storylines surrounding the company in 2024.  

More broadly, Iger is likely to face tough questions from shareholders about Disney’s overall business strategy in an increasingly fragmented and unpredictable media environment.  

Tucker Carlson   

The former top-rated host on cable news, Carlson appears to be mounting an effort to stay relevant among political commentators heading into 2024 but without one key ingredient: the large megaphone he held at Fox.  

After being ousted by the network in April, Carlson started a new media company of his own but has essentially lost the national GOP kingmaker status he enjoyed via his prime-time cable news perch.  

Carlson has, however, been able to book interviews with and publish conversations online with some of the most popular figures on the right, including Trump. 

How well Carlson can monetize his content and build his brand via his new venture is an open question. 

But as Fox looks to rebuild its image amid the fallout of the Dominion lawsuit, and Carlson works to build a new following of his own, the brooding tensions between the two sides will be a dynamic to watch within conservative media in 2024.