Which cable news host enjoys the best net favorability according to a new poll? None other than CNN’s own Anderson Cooper. And it’s not really very close.

This somewhat surprising result comes from a just-released Hollywood Reporter sponsored Morning Consult poll which looked at the current credibility of American media outlets, including leading newspapers, broadcast, and cable news television outlets.

The in-depth analysis of the media’s shifting credibility standing is fascinating, particularly in a post-Trump media landscape, and details about each outlet is revealing.

From the report:

Morning Consult trend data shows an erosion of media credibility during the past few years: Average trust declined by 11 points since 2017, with the aforementioned print, broadcast, cable and radio outlets all seeing between 9- and 14-point drops. Among Democrats, Fox News and The Wall Street Journal saw the sharpest declines of 14 and 12 points, respectively, while Republicans’ views of every outlet declined by double digits, led by 19-point plunges for NBC and MSNBC and 17-point drops for CNN, ABC and the Journal.

CBS and NBC saw the biggest declines — of 4 and 5 points, respectively — among all Americans over the past year, while Fox News took the biggest hit among Republicans, falling to 59 percent, an 8-point drop.

Fox News’ declining credibility with Republicans follows sustained criticism from Trump around his Nov. 3 loss to President Joe Biden. Morning Consult Brand Intelligence data captured a decrease in popularity among Republicans at the time that stabilized a month later.

The poll asked 2,000 Americans to opine on prime-time cable news personalities. They then ranked the hosts by net favorability rating, and as you can see in the the chart (in our post here), CNN’s Cooper was comfortably the most popular among all adults and Democrats. CNN’s Chris Cuomo, however, came in last place.

Cooper is definitely the winner overall, but there are still some pretty interesting results when you drill-down and compare net favorability ratings between specific personalities...

Former Fox News anchor Ed Henry, who was fired from the network after being accused of rape, is suing Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, accusing her of defaming him “as a sex criminal.”

Henry’s suit also alleges that Scott accused him of sexual misconduct while covering up an affair between Fox News president Jay Wallace and a subordinate.

Henry was fired from the network in 2020 following an allegation of rape by a former network staffer. At the time, Scott and Fox News president Jay Wallace put out a statement saying the company had "received a complaint about Ed Henry from a former employee’s attorney involving willful sexual misconduct in the workplace years ago… Based on investigative findings, Ed has been terminated.”

Henry’s lawsuit claims Scott “sandbagged” him with th estatement and “lending credence to the false allegations because she was trying to save her own career and burnish her image as a tough, no nonsense female executive who cleaned up Fox News.”

The suit accuses Scott of being “an instrument to cover up the existence of sexual misconduct at Fox News” and charges that she “had such a well-known history of whitewashing actual instances of ‘willful sexual misconduct’ by Fox News employees, including a widely-known affair between a subordinate and Fox News President Jay Wallace.”

Henry alleges that Wallace was investigated over “an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate” but it was “covered up by Ms. Scott.” He claims his firing was an attempt to "divert attention" from such cover-ups.

In a statement obtained by Mediaite, a Fox News Media spokesperson said that after thorough investigation, they terminated Henry for "willful sexual misconduct and stand by the decision entirely."

Henry has vehemently and unequivocally denied the allegations of sexual misconduct.

In their own statement, Fox was likewise both vehement and unequivocal in denying any wrongdoing on the party of Jay Wallace.

The sordid mess continues in a very public, ugly way, to the benefit of none involved.