Social:Newsfluencer

From HandWiki

A newsfluencer, also news influencer or journo-influencer, is an influencer who creates content on current events and civic issues on social media platforms. People who fall into this category include self-employed journalists, Substack writers, podcasters, YouTubers, TikTok journalists, and Twitch streamers. The genres these influencers embrace span from imitating news reporting inspired by that of Walter Cronkite, to providing commentary on and critiques of news stories they find interesting or troubling.

In contrast to journalists working with traditional news media companies who offer original reporting that is carefully researched and verified, newsfluencers have the advantage of speed in that they create and distribute their content quickly. They also benefit from the perception that they are approachable and that the news they share is peer-centered.[1][2] Some newsfluencers expand on existing news stories by dissecting news representations and critiquing the viewpoints of differing news outlets.[3] Others are influencers who occasionally insert news commentary into their feeds.

Newsfluencer typically have a background in Journalism, Media Studies, or Communications, combining these traditional fields with skills in digital media and social media marketing. Examples of key competencies include communication and storytelling, proficiency in using social media platforms for content distribution as well as navigating ethical considerations related to journalism and social media influence[4]

Origins

The rise of newsfluencer can be traced back to the early 2020s, as news consumption increasingly shifted to social media platforms.[5] Following their audiences, news brands as well as individual journalists began to adopt social media to expand their reach.[6] Simultaneously, some online content creators have started to engage in activities resembling journalism, uncovering facts, reporting on current events and offering analysis.[7] During the 2020 United States presidential election, Twitch streamer Hasan Piker live streamed for eleven hours, keeping himself on camera as he followed and shared election results in an unpolished way that "reflected [his audiences'] own news consumption practices".[8]

In 2024, the Pew Research Center reported that just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say that they get news at least sometimes from social media apps, with about one third saying that they regularly get news from Facebook and YouTube.[9] The Reuters Digital News Report, which is based on data from six continents and 48 markets, founded that about a third of people around the world report using Facebook (36%) and YouTube (30%) for news every week.[10]

In September 2024, "newsfluencer" was defined as "platformatised creators who operate according to the economic and cultural logics of online influencers to produce news content for participatory audiences".[8] Newsfluencers come from varied professional and amateur backgrounds, including former journalists to independent content creators, who are able to create timely and relatable news coverage in "Facetime-style videos" compared to traditional news media.[11]

Increased access

Citing a decline in trust in legacy media outlets, in January 2025, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced an initiative to increase access to the White House for podcasters, bloggers, and social media influencers.[12] More than 7,400 requests for the "new media" passes were received within the first 24 hours of this announcement.[13]

According to the survey conducted in 2022 for the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, audiences today perceive journalists as including YouTubers, podcasters, comedians, authors, and social media influencers. The study found that these ‘alternative’ or ‘independent’ actors accounted for 15% of all named journalists in the United States, a figure higher than in any other of the researched countries.[14]

Examples

Examples of newsfluencers include:[1][2]

  • Aaron Parnas, lawyer and political content creator
  • Hugo Travers (HugoDéCrypte), French journalist
  • Jack Mac, comments on news reports that they find interesting
  • Hasan Piker (HasanAbi), Twitch streamer who comments on politics
  • V Spehar, creator of Under The Desk News
  • Lisa Remillard, also known as "The News Girl", has a background in traditional journalism
  • Sarah Baus, lifestyle influencer who covered the TikTok ban

Criticisms

Regarding news on TikTok, its factual accuracy is understudied. However, media watchdog NewsGuard found that 20 percent of TikTok's news search results contained misinformation.[1] Traditional news media companies, like NBC News, and academics have criticized some newsfluencers of asking uncritical questions or showing overt bias towards people they are interviewing.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dimri, Amogh (2025-08-02). "This Is the News From TikTok" (in en). https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/08/news-influencers-tiktok-gen-z/683731/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Deggans, Eric (2025-01-04). "How influencers are impacting journalism" (in en). NPR. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/04/nx-s1-5246011/influencer. 
  3. ↑ Literat, Ioana; Boxman-Shabtai, Lillian; Kligler-Vilenchik, Neta (August 2022). "Protesting the Protest Paradigm: TikTok as a Space for Media Criticism". The International Journal of Press/Politics 28 (2): 362–383. doi:10.1177/19401612221117481. ISSN 1940-1612. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/19401612221117481. 
  4. ↑ (in en) Sophia Smith Galer laments the absence of regulation & support from big tech for influencers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4bCU96VTp0, retrieved 2024-02-11 
  5. ↑ "Reuters Institute Digital Report" (in en-GB). https://www.digitalnewsreport.org/2012/. 
  6. ↑ "The rise of the journalist-influencer". https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/12/the-rise-of-the-journalist-influencer/. 
  7. ↑ "Online Journalism from the Periphery: Interloper Media and the Journalistic Field" (in en). https://www.routledge.com/Online-Journalism-from-the-Periphery-Interloper-Media-and-the-Journalistic/Eldridge-II/p/book/9781138945456. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hurcombe, Edward (2024). "Conceptualising the "Newsfluencer": Intersecting Trajectories in Online Content Creation and Platformatised Journalism". Digital Journalism 0: 1–12. doi:10.1080/21670811.2024.2397088. ISSN 2167-0811. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2024.2397088. 
  9. ↑ "Social Media and News Fact Sheet" (in en-US). 2024-09-17. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/. 
  10. ↑ Newman, Nic (2025-06-17). "Digital News Report 2025 | Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism" (in en). https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2025. 
  11. ↑ Salcius, Katie. "The Rise of News Influencers: How They're Reshaping Traditional Media" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/katiesalcius/2025/02/07/the-rise-of-news-influencers-how-theyre-reshaping-traditional-media/. 
  12. ↑ Salcius, Katie. "The Rise of News Influencers: How They're Reshaping Traditional Media" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/katiesalcius/2025/02/07/the-rise-of-news-influencers-how-theyre-reshaping-traditional-media/. 
  13. ↑ "White House flooded with thousands of requests after open..." (in en). 2025-01-31. https://www.newsweek.com/karoline-leavitt-new-media-press-pass-requests-thousands-2024390. 
  14. ↑ "Which journalists do people pay most attention to and why? A study of six countries | Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism" (in en). https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/which-journalists-do-people-pay-most-attention-and-why-study-six-countries. 
  15. ↑ Scott, Liam (2025-07-01). "The rise of the newsfluencer" (in EN). Index on Censorship 54 (2): 74–77. doi:10.1177/03064220251359924. ISSN 0306-4220. https://doi.org/10.1177/03064220251359924. 

Further reading



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