The media industry has shifted dramatically in the last decade, and while print may be struggling, digital is thriving. It’s also seen the birth of news creators, with journalists prioritising making content for platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. 

In a recent webinar held by FT Strategies, George Montagu, head of insights at FT Strategies, presented research from a recent study and was joined by a panel of Vitus Spehar, creator of Under the Desk News, Sruthi Gottipati, founder of Spot On, and Ben Reininga, VP of Audio and Video at POLITICO, to discuss the changing media landscape and the challenges and opportunities for news creators.

News creator types and principles
According to the research, which was led by FT Strategies and WAN-IFRA and supported by Google News Initiative, there tends to be are usually three segments that a news creator falls into for the content they produce:

1. Investigator – works in a similar way to regular reporters, with original reporting and showcasing new information that they find
2. Explainer – describes the news in a more simplified way, and makes it more interesting and easier to follow for the audience.
3. Commentator – reacts to news and events, offering their own opinions and insight into the trending topics and issues.

As explained during the presentation, sSegments can overlap –  and someone that explains the news can also offer their opinions on it, or an investigator can then go on to describe why this is important or significant. 

The research also showed that there arehere seems to be three basic principles that news creators are following: which is accuracy, integrity and transparency. They are sharing correct properly sourced information (prioritising primary sources where possible) to combat accuracy. They are acting fairly and honestly to show they are genuine and authentic. And they are showcasing their transparency by being upfront about where they are gathering information from, how they work and any conflicts of interest.

A friendly face to deliver the news
Lots of recent studies have identified reasons why readers and viewers are turning away from mainstream media. Many think it’s too elite, others find it too complex to follow and some just find it depressing. Ben Reininga feels that news creators are working to counterring these problems:

‘People think the news is elite. In response, you have a lot of creators showing up in very intimate spaces. They’re reporting from their beds. They’re reporting from their cars. Social platforms tend to be a little more approachable and creators are adopting a very conversational and cogent approach to the news, and doing some of the best explainers as a result’.

Vitus Spehar has definitely taken this approach in their work at Under the Desk news by doing videos where they ask viewers to pick what they should wear for an interview, and doing live streams immediately after their interviews. They believe that ‘news communication is storytelling and should be a back and forth dialogue’. It’s why they and a lot of news creators are very active in their DMs and responding to comments because ‘you have to be both a participant and a consumer, because that’s what drives success in this space’.

Owning your topic and figuring out your content frequency and end goal 

This approach to covering the news is still a new concept and many creators are still figuring out important points such as how much content to post. Vitus said:

‘In the beginning, you’re really responding to your ego and your eagerness to be part of the situation and you want to say something about everything. I have come to find that you need to meet people’s expectations and provide the highest possible quality for the time that you have them.’

Sruthi agreed with this and said that ‘you need to be strategic and think about how much you can genuinely produce every week’. Otherwise there is the risk of burnout.

Another consideration is what is the end goal? Vitus said that ‘we shouldn’t expect that everybody’s goal is to work in the journalism profession. For some this is a means of discoverability and their ultimate goal is to have a political podcast or be a celebrity’. But there is the opportunity to thrive in this sector if you can identify that goal. Sruthi said that ‘one of the ways which people can successfully build a following is to focus on a really specific topic and really own that’. Ben added:

‘Lean in where you see clear value and where you’re clearly reaching a segment of an audience and reaching people at a depth you weren’t otherwise’.

If you’re looking to become a news creator and you need some expert comment or case studies to back up your points, then you can use the Journalist Enquiry Service to get what you need. Or if you’re a journalist looking to increase your social media presence, then find out how you can on both Instagram and TikTok.