Throughout the year, we have (dis)honored the national press with our regular feature, the antithesis of the Pulitzers, where we recognize media unprofessionalism, journalistic sloth, and generally deserved press mockery. After months of doling out nominations for fractured journalism practices, now it is time for: The Golden Remington Awards.
Our Trophy is a nod to the olden days when hard-scrabble hacks committed actual journalism, hammering out dispatches on those hefty wordsmith devices. To commemorate that past of muckraking reporting and shoe leather investigation, we acknowledge those journalists or outlets who fall short of that once respectable goal.
This is the second portion in a three-part ceremony where we will start recognizing the less-than-greatness delivered. The nominees will be listed, with the winner declared in each. Let us now adjust our tuxedos and take the stage as we recognize some of the most galling examples in journalism in 2025. Here are the winners as we continue our celebration of The Remmys.
Distinguished Cultural Commentary
Sawdah Bhaimiya - CNBC: Gen-Z experiences “phone anxiety” and some are taking classes in how to deal with the strain. At CNBC, they detail how this crowd, which practically lives on their phones, has anxiety about actually using their phones for their designed purpose — that is, taking phone calls.
Dana Munro - Washington Post: We get an exploration of how some residents and workers in the D.C. region find a way to deal with stress - by joining mermaid pods.
Marco Buscaglia - Chicago Sun Times: After offering up a summer reading list, readers encountered a problem. Many of the books recommended could not be found. At all. This is because Buscaglia used AI to write his article, and it generated completely made-up titles.
Guy Trebay - The New York Times: We learn today from The Times Style Section that the best way for the pampered set in this nation to display their privileged, wealthy stature is to adorn themselves in a lack of color. “To be fashionably superrich, is to be clad in the anodyne colors of baby food, tea cookies or screen savers: latte, oatmeal, cream, butterscotch, café au lait.”
WINNER
Theodore Schleifer, Jacob Reber - New York Times
It is bad enough to be fawning over the wealthy Leftist elites, but during the weekend of the No Kings protests, to declare that the marriage of Alex Soros and Huma Abedin as “A wedding of Liberal Royalty” is the epitome of being tone-deaf.
The Clintons and Kamala Harris Descend on a Hamptons Wedding of Liberal Royalty https://t.co/7wD3FPY00L via @NYTimes
— Andrew Buncombe (@AndrewBuncombe) June 15, 2025
Distinguished Cultural Criticism
Ramishah Maruf - CNN: When there was pushback on the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain for its announced changes to the logo and interiors of the eateries, CNN jumped to declare this was due to an “intense right-wing backlash.” Many others, of course, were against the change, including – the Democratic Party.
Scott MacFarlane - CBS News: Scott was very bothered that a radio station in Florida was using images of the president in a cowboy hat to promote the station with “Trump Country” messaging. It seemed clear he was the only one bothered, as no one else would respond to his queries.
Tyler Harper - The Atlantic: As the film Jaws had its 50th anniversary of its initial release, in a desperate bid for relevancy, Harper declared the motion picture somehow predicted Trump populism.
The Styles Desk - New York Times: Joining in on the inept outrage that soared briefly, the design experts at the Times expressed dismay that the paint company Pantone declared a shade of white as its Color Of The Year.
WINNER
Hannah Holland - MSNBC
As the nation endured a media meltdown over the American Eagle ad campaign with Sydney Sweeney, MSNBC strove to go the lowest, announcing that the promotion indicated an “unbridled cultural shift towards whiteness.”
Just when you think MSNBC can't go any more off the deep end, they do. On the front page of their website today was a column titled, "Sydney Sweeney's ad shows an unbridled cultural shift toward whiteness."
— Dan Zaksheske (@RealDanZak) July 29, 2025
It was written by... a white woman. https://t.co/sVJScq9XBe
Distinguished Photo Journalism
New York Magazine: In covering post-inauguration parties, the magazine implied it was the emergence of a white-dominated “cruel kids” movement. To display this, they used a cover photo from one event that intentionally cropped out the many POC party attendees. Worse than that, the event was put on by black conservative influencer C.J. Pearson.
New York Magazine literally cropped all the black people out of this cover photo and then complained that “the entire room is white” https://t.co/gCatY1lZzG pic.twitter.com/VhoaiJhqg1
— Christopher Barnard (@ChrisBarnardDL) January 27, 2025
- Alex Brandon - Associated Press: During the White House Easter Egg Roll, it sure seemed intentional to have a shot of the president positioned with bunny ears.
The @AP makes a decision to get some photographic revenge. pic.twitter.com/hnvSGHKB2I
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) April 21, 2025
- Jerome Delay - Associated Press: The news syndicate tried to dispel the claims that white South African farmers are being systematically targeted for land, and many are being killed. Yet in its piece of denial, there were many photos from the region, including a monument to the farmers killed, and a hillside filled with white crosses signifying those who were murdered.
Sacramento Bee: In delivering coverage of a Republican conference that featured the image of a GOP politician posing with what looked to be a Nazi salute, they added the accusatory narratives.
When @SacBee_News resorts to base photo entries. pic.twitter.com/0VXj1PyzPK
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) December 30, 2025
WINNER
Marc Wilson - The Bulwark, via Getty
The claimed conservatives at The Bulwark tried to become theistic scolds in a slanted immigration piece about a detainee named Jesus. They try to position this as if Christ had been the one arrested, complete with an image of the Son of God on the cross and bearing handcuffs.
His Name Is Jesus.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) July 30, 2025
He’s a Carpenter.
ICE Arrested Him.https://t.co/iLhL6ACvz4
Distinguished Political Cartoons
Ann Telnaes - Washington Post: After crafting a cartoon showing CEOs pledging money to a statue of Trump, including Jeff Bezos, the paper decided not to run her submission. She quit as a result of the decision.
Jeff Bezos never wanted this cartoon to become public.
— Aaron Parnas (@AaronParnas) January 4, 2025
He killed it, and as a result, pulitzer prize editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes quit.
Make sure everyone sees this cartoon. pic.twitter.com/hrvdGeowGO
Barry Blitt - The New Yorker: The magazine was convinced Kamala Harris would win the election, so much so that it commissioned an artwork to use for its November cover. They displayed the piece in January. After her loss, they needed to make a new cover on the quick, one that carried all of the importance of being an afterthought.
The New Yorker was so assured of a Kamala election victory that the night that Trump won, they had to scramble and come up with a dashed-off image.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) December 30, 2025
Creativity Level: 1.63/10 https://t.co/elZ94B1xQb pic.twitter.com/X8pvRD9LI7
- New York Magazine: In a piece about how Canada is not happy with our country, they gave this excitable image. Not only were they unaware of our collective apathy, but they also seem ignorant of how bald eagles prey on beavers.
NY Mag cover pic.twitter.com/30mLZoqBKG
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 14, 2025
- Ann Telnaes (again) - newly Independent: During the Stephen Colbert flap, Telnaes clearly did not feel his cancellation was a financial decision.
Killing satire
— Ann Telnaes (@AnnTelnaes) July 19, 2025
CBS cancels The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, claiming it was "purely a financial decision"https://t.co/8pxAgM6HpZ pic.twitter.com/en5gjfrtz5
WINNER
Pat Bagley - Salt Lake Tribune
The media have been complaining about political violence for much of the year. Complaining about political cartoon violence? Not so much.
Not to get squeamish and snowflakey, but it seems as the press is complaining about dangerous rhetoric and political violence, maybe portraying the leader of Argentina taking a chainsaw to an American farmer is quite tone deaf for an outlet.https://t.co/m0lavtEB6c
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) October 21, 2025
Distinguished Sports Reporting
Lydia Mee - Newsweek: Upon the announcement that the president would attend the Daytona 500, it was speculated that his appearance would lead to more accidents during the race.
Jen Ramos Eisen - Defector: With the MLB All-Star game being held in Atlanta, Ms. Ramos Eisen felt the need to challenge broadcasters over the fact that there has been no change to the Georgia voting laws, which inspired the league to pull the game from the city years ago. Apparently, this intrepid sports reporter missed out on the fact that Georgia has experienced record voter turnout since the laws went into effect.
Gary Cohen - New York Mets Broadcasting: The announcer was condescending when mentioning that Matt Shaw from the Chicago Cubs took a game off to attend the funeral of Charlie Kirk. Shaw and Kirk had been friends. Meanwhile, Mr. Shaw had it brought up that there was a time he took time off from his job duties when his dog passed away.
Brian Stelter - CNN: The media guru was in attendance at this year’s Super Bowl. So was President Trump. Stelter bitched about the fact that Trump is always commanding attention and has become an “inescapable” presence. Brian then, in hilarious obliviousness, proceeded to spend the entirety of the game tweeting out details about the president’s actions.
WINNER
Molly Longman - Wired Magazine
In this investigative piece, Ms. Longman explores the betting world and how some influencers with online sportsbooks are tracking the menstrual cycles of WNBA players to adjust their prop bets.
Some sports gamblers are trying to predict WNBA players’ performance—and the outcomes of games—based on the athletes’ periods. One betting content creator has dubbed it “blood money." https://t.co/pMnN7E1Flx
— WIRED (@WIRED) October 10, 2025
Distinguished Editorial Writing
Margaret Renkl - New York Times: For Trump’s inaugural, she penned an opposition piece about how he is wrong for the environment – written from the perspective of birds.
Ruth Marcus - Washington Post: She delivered all of the evidence that President Trump is an authoritarian. Her proof is…Trump keeps cutting agencies and making the government smaller.
Linda Greenhouse - New York Times: After witnessing a potential immigration raid in her neighborhood, Ms. Greenhouse launched into a lengthy treatise about facing down oppression, and how the cruel nature that seeped into our nation has her seeking out “mental triage.” This was all the result of her seeing a black SUV on her block that turned out to be an airport limousine pickup.
Ross Douthat - New York Times: Ross hosted a podcast with author Osita Nwanevu, who had a proposal on how to fix the country. The central message was that the Left cannot win politically any longer unless there is an overhaul to the way our nation operates. So abolishing the Senate, packing the Supreme Court, eliminating the Electoral College, and rewriting the Constitution are what is needed to preserve our democracy.
WINNER
Tim Cunningham - Washington Post
Tim is an outraged clown. He is very upset anytime somebody refers to the president of the United States as a “clown,” because this improperly impugns the sterling character of those who craft animals out of balloons. Tim informs us about the vaunted history of his craft and how there are even benevolent jesters in a group called Clowns Without Borders.
Donald Trump is not a clown. I should know.
— Washington Post Opinions (@PostOpinions) July 10, 2025
Read more from Tim Cunningham: https://t.co/XBMKEyeIxT
Distinguished Feature Writing
Sonia Perez - Associated Press: A new discovery in Mexico of Mayan culture revealed a temple, inside of which were the remains of young children. While it was seen as evidence of child sacrifice, we should by no means regard them as a violent culture.
Keziah Weir - Vanity Fair: The columnist declares that America has a protein obsession, and the blame for this rests with MAGA. Of course. Making this all the more insipid is that in citing her sources on her claim, she uses decidedly un-MAGA outlets like Vogue and the New York Times.
Philip Rotner - The Bulwark: In a piece written with an abject lack of pragmatic thought, Rotner has declared that President Trump has been given permission to ignore court decisions. That permission has been handed to him by…ummm…the Supreme COURT.
Sara Moniuszko - CBS News: Sara delivers for us the latest environmental scourge - Asthmatics are killing the planet! We get told that the use of inhalers puts out the same amount of greenhouse emissions as the annual output of half a million cars
Barret Wertz - New York Post: In a case of severe TMI, Barret shares with us his adventures with bowel movements. Apparently, Barret has had some trials with fecal stagnation, but he has found some relief for his leavings.
You and I do not give a crap about the Kardashians, but the Kardashians sure do - at least Kourtney does. She has a new line of laxatives, and Barret has sampled them and gives a rave review. Frankly, we were likewise moved, but due mostly to the image provided of Kourtney deposited on a commode.
Kourtney Kardashian helped me poop — I was skeptical but following her worked liked a charm https://t.co/iSyBxIENac pic.twitter.com/LNRH5rGCoR
— New York Post (@nypost) July 14, 2025