How news creators are overtaking media companies
News creators on social media have been better than traditional media to adjust to what news consumers want. The rapid growth of news creators is an extra competition for pressured mainstream media companies, especially with Gen Z and millennial audiences that are already reluctant to go to news websites and apps, Reuters Institute says in an international study that shows mainstream media failing to keep pace with a changing media market. “In general, creators have been more adept than media companies in moulding their storytelling and their tone to the requirements of social platforms.”
“They have also mostly proved better at attracting and keeping attention in fast-changing, algorithmically driven space.”
“Finally, they have embraced a broader set of audience needs around entertainment, lifestyle, specialist, and passion-based content – needs that the mainstream media have largely ignored.”
The report says that in terms of political commentary algorithmically driven platforms are pushing both creators and audiences towards more sensational and partisan approaches.
Male perspectives tend to dominate – especially in the field of political commentary. 85% of top news creators are men.
In most countries, right-leaning commentators heavily outnumber left-leaning ones overall, but in politically polarised countries audiences are often exposed mainly to creators that align with their own views.
As a conclusion, the report says the professional and creator worlds are converging and that is likely to mean more discussion about the need for regulation, standards, training, and other approaches to build trust and maximise commercial opportunities.
“We’re still at the beginning of this shift to online creator-led media, and how it plays out will at least partly depend on the role platforms play in promoting valuable and useful content, the further development of business models to support these creators, and the continued interest of audiences around the world.”
News on social media across 24 counties, reveals how messy, fragmented, and loosely defined news sources have become for many people, the report says.
“Politicians and traditional media have taken their wares to an unruly information space where they compete with a rich variety of news creators focusing on commentary, investigation, explainers, and niche specialisms, as well as infotainment and lifestyle creators, who frequently get drawn into political and cultural debates, either because they want to or because their audience demands it.”
“As all this is thrown into the algorithm(s), it makes for a bewildering cocktail, but one that is also richly creative, entertaining, and informative – even if much of that information cannot always be taken on trust.”
According to the report there is set of populous countries, generally where traditional media are under pressure and social media use is high (e.g. Thailand, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Kenya, and the United States), where news creators are having a significant impact and where a few individuals are reaching a significant number of people.
“At the other end of the spectrum, we find countries with strong brands and lower use of social media (mostly in northern and western Europe) where successful news creators are the exception rather than the rule.”
The report says that political commentators tend to use X and YouTube while investigators, explanatory, and news-adjacent creators tend to focus more on Instagram and TikTok (as well as YouTube).
“This is partly due to the younger demographics that are interested in a broader set of content and more video-led storytelling.
A previous report by Pew Research Center shows that among YouTube news influencers, 68% are men and only 28% are women. And a slightly larger share explicitly express a right-leaning political orientation (28%) than a left-leaning one (21%). Another 46% don’t express any clear political orientation.
And the news consumption differs by gender. News consumers on YouTube are more likely to be men than women (57% versus. 42%).
The Pew report says that the vast majority of news influencers on YouTube (88%) have not worked in the news industry.
“Yet most still find ways to generate income from their work: 80% of YouTube news influencers monetise their content in some way, whether through subscriptions, donations or merchandise.”
About one-in-five say that they regularly get news from influencers on social media, according to Pew Research.
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