No unifying principle governs these picks. I tried to avoid honoring the obvious — like the Washington Post’s Dana Priest or the New York Times’ James Risen, who both recently won Pulitzers for their scrutiny of the US war on terror. And I also steered clear of shooting fish in a barrel, like that sultan of self-righteous scolding, Bill O’Reilly. (Okay, I mention him once.)

The fact that there are so many options to choose among is a testament to the fragmentation of today’s information universe. In a world in which we are bombarded by media constantly vying for our attention, it’s a cutthroat challenge to battle through the clutter and create favorable “brand identity.” In my view, the people and venues listed below deserve real credit for that, including — in a perverse way — those that have distinguished themselves by their ability to rub me the wrong way.

What I Like

1) CNN’s American Morning anchor Miles O’Brien
Twenty years ago, O’Brien was a reporter at Boston’s Channel 7, so he’s a quasi-local guy. (Of course, so is Bill O’Reilly, and we don’t brag about that.) A skilled pilot and aviation expert, O’Brien helped make his bones at CNN with his coverage of the February 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy. But he was just as good when reporting from the post-Katrina debris of the Gulf Coast, albeit in a more detached manner than his colleague Anderson Cooper.

As the morning partner of the solid Soledad O’Brien for the past year, O’Brien is a nice blend of brains and playfulness. On almost any subject, he’s crisp, knowledgeable, and in command. But he’s got an everyman appeal, meaning he’s smart without giving off that noxious whiff of pomposity. (Remember the self-indulgent Aaron Brown?)

O’Brien’s got enough gravitas that you could watch him if there were another 9/11-scale catastrophe. But he’s loose enough to pull off a bit in which he modeled a wash-and-wear suit from JC Penney under the wary gaze of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy star Carson Kressley.

2) Comedian Bill Maher of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher
Maher really caught our attention as host of ABC’s Politically Incorrect. That show was canceled not long after his televised observation that terrorists who drove planes into buildings were less cowardly than a nation that fires missiles from thousands of miles away.

It took guts — if not smarts — to say that on September 17, 2001. And despite the nasty backlash, Maher is still a commendably loose cannon and a first-rate political satirist.

Maher’s politics aren’t entirely predictable. But if you’re looking for an hour of gleeful Bush-bashing, he’s your man. It helps that Maher gets good guests — his most recent show included George Clooney, Congressman Barney Frank, and Sir Ian McKellen. But basically, they’re all foils for the host’s nonstop shtick, which is the best thing about the program anyway.

3) WEEI’s midday guy Michael Holley
On a station of testosterone-laden talk from guys who probably stole their classmates’ milk money, Holley stands out as the one ’EEI host you’d actually like to hang out with.

A former Globe columnist, Holley bounced around in a multimedia career that included a contribution to the Akron Beacon Journal’s examination of racial issues that won the paper a 1994 Pulitzer Prize.

Holley’s views on race, his musical taste, his media savvy, and his cultural awareness distinguish him from his fellow hosts, who have a pretty narrow range of opinions, many of which are not worth sharing with the public.

One favorite moment came last year when Sox GM Theo Epstein was playing Hamlet about his future. A somewhat exasperated Holley had to explain to his disbelieving partner, Dale Arnold, that a 30-ish bachelor who’d made a couple-hundred grand the previous year could actually afford to live off his savings for a while. Thank God someone at ’EEI understands the real world.

4) New Yorker media writer Ken Auletta
As the “Annals of Communications” writer for the New Yorker for 14 years, there is no media reporter who goes deeper on meatier subjects than Auletta. Sure, the Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz is busier and the late David Shaw of the Los Angeles Times produced longer stories. But Auletta writes with a unique authority, whether it’s his tough take on Dan Rather’s exit from CBS last year or his excavation of the rift that caused Los Angeles Times editor John Carroll to throw in the towel with the penny-pinching Chicago Tribune Co.