I'm an ex-ABC star reporter defecting to YouTube... here's my grim prediction for overpaid A-List anchors facing the ax
Proper news from Britain - News from Britain you won’t find anywhere else. Not the tosh the big media force-feed you every day!
One of Washington's 'most feared' political reporters is striking out on her own as an independent journalist - and she has a warning for her peers.
After high-profile stints at ABC News and Politico, Tara Palmeri is forgoing a hefty paycheck by taking her talents to YouTube and Substack in a bid for solo success.
The 37-year-old, who has criticized traditional media for its buttoned-up and top-down approach to news, believes that overpaid anchors' days may be numbered.
'The internet has created an equal playing field,' says Palmeri, 37, who this month walked away from a $260,000 salary in her most recent role at the startup news site Puck.
'If someone has investigative skills, it can go a long way.'
Palmeri started her career at CNN in 2009, before moving to the New York Post and eventually landing at Politico in 2015.
In 2017, she was named ABC News' White House correspondent, after which she returned to Politico before moving to Puck - which described her as 'Washington's most feared and fearless politics reporter'.
A self-described 'scoop artist', Palmeri sometimes found herself at odds with newsroom leadership over coverage choices, including a story about Hunter Biden's infamous laptop that was scuttled by editors at Politico.
'There are some people with a lot of power who dictate editorial control, and you have to follow suit. And there's also bureaucracy,' Palmeri tells the Daily Mail.
'I hope they figure out at some point how to adapt,' she adds.
Palmeri says she hopes legacy media outlets can 'find a way to succeed, because we need them' - but acknowledges that the current reckoning at several news networks spells trouble for A-list anchors.
'The bloated salaries will decrease,' she says of top newscasters, following the recent exits of talking heads like Lester Holt, Norah O'Donnell, Hoda Kotb and others. 'We already see anchors resigning.'
For her part, Palmeri was fueled by an initial grant from YouTube, where she is obligated to produce four videos per week and currently counts nearly 11,500 subscribers.
She also has more than 11,000 subscribers to her Substack, The Red Letter, and has amassed nearly 70,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok.
She touts her reporting as 'free from spin', and plans to use the sources and exclusives she has built up over the years to deliver for her audience - while retaining complete control over the message.
Her time as senior political correspondent at Puck - which has gained recognition for its gossipy scoops and snarky style - 'was the next step towards going independent,' Palmeri explains.
'It was a startup and wasn't well-known, so I had to rely on my name and reputation to get stories,' she says.
'I didn't have a name like ABC behind me.'
The future of media, she believes, lies in creator-driven content.
'People go to news website for certain personalities, writers and journalists,' she said. 'Leaning into that is the future.'
Palmeri has already scored sit-down interviews with several prominent guests from across the political spectrum, including Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who's earned the ire of his fellow democrats for ripping the party.
'Video is more interesting to a lot of people,' Palmeri says, noting that everyone from her mother to members of Gen Z regularly turn to YouTube.
'Every generation is now on this network,' she says. 'I needed to be there. There were a lot of reasons why this made sense to me. Other places weren't really exciting for me, personally.
'At this time, where there's so much distrust in the media, I really believe this is the trust-based way.'
Palmeri - who joins figures like former CNN journalists Jim Acosta, Oliver Darcy, and Chris Cillizza in going independent - recently told The New York Times that she struggled to fit in at more traditional newsrooms.
At Politico, Palmeri says she felt 'ostracized' by fellow journalists when reporting on a probe into a gun owned by Hunter Biden.
She describes it as 'a difficult story to get through' and says her editors 'gave the White House a lot of time to respond - probably more time than was needed'.
'It wasn't a high-five-with-colleagues type of story,' she adds.
When Palmeri had previously asked to report on Hunter Biden's laptop, Politico instead ran a story titled: 'Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.'
'You have to be a part of a pack mentality,' she claims.
Both her stories ended up being legitimate.
When asked what she believes the public really desires from journalists, Palmeri states simply: 'I think they want truth - I think they don't want bias.'
At a time when 'news-fluencers' are gaining ground on their legacy-media counterparts for viewers, she sees an opportunity to build an audience herself.
'I think that whole connection between writer and reader - on social media - it's closer,' Palmeri says, at a time when reporters for nontraditional media outlets are being allowed to apply for spots in the White House press pool.
'That's why it is an interesting space to go - people are demanding it.'
To understand how consumer tastes have changed, you need only look at the recent tumult in television news.
A high-level network executive recently described to the Daily Mail the desperate state of the industry, with ratings falling across the board and repeated rounds of layoffs at numerous outlets.
A parade of bold-faced anchors stepping away or being forced out of their highly prized jobs has only increased the anxiety.
'There is uncertainty everywhere in the industry,' said the executive, speaking on condition of anonymity.
'With anchor and programming changes, there are real worries, at NBC News and CBS in particular.'
As for Palmeri, she now works with a full staff, including a producer, a director of production, an editor, a photo editor, an assistant and a copywriter.
The subjects of her recent reports include Republicans 'gaslighting' the scandal surrounding the Trump team's Signal chat, as well as struggles within the Democratic party.
In the face of a flurry of news in Washington, Palmeri is doubling down on her dual-pronged effort.
'I hope to build both,' she said of her presence on YouTube and Substack, admitting that it's 'a lot of work to put out four videos' each week. 'It's hard.'
Meanwhile, Palmeri's mission to earn readers' trust - without the backing of a big-name news outlet - is what motivates her.
A tagline on her Substack sums up her approach: 'No agenda. No bias. Just the scoop.'
.jpg)
