Americans are bypassing traditional publications and turning to TikTok, Instagram, and X for their news. Last month, the Pew Research Center found that one in five U.S. adults gets their news from news influencers—people who may or may not be journalists but share news and opinions on their personal social media platforms.
With that influence comes real power.
Some argue that influencers like Joe Rogan (who is not a journalist) and others helped Donald Trump return to the presidency. Indeed, the guy who played Joe, the handyman from the beloved 1990s sitcom News Radio, is among the top news influencers cited in Pew’s study of more than 10,000 respondents. Others frequently mentioned include Philip DeFranco, Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, and Carlos Eduardo Espina.
Study participants mentioned a total of 425 influencers, highlighting this group’s vastness. Influencers often have a particular point of view, niche content, or political leanings and, therefore, draw highly segmented audiences, contributing to ongoing media fragmentation.
These news influencers can still be mainstream journalists working for traditional newspapers or TV stations. They can be graduates from journalism school with strong social followings who follow the journalism code of ethics. But more often than not, they are people like Rogan, who began his career as a comedian and sitcom actor, and Ben Shapiro, who started as a lawyer.
The rise of news influencers, often accused of spreading misinformation and trading opinions as fact, raises concerns that the line between fact and opinion is blurrier than ever.
Still, journalism watchdog groups are monitoring the trend closely and believe there’s a lot that traditional news outlets can learn from influencers. Muck Rack CEO Gregory Galant said earlier this year in Poynter that traditional journalists and organizations should work to tap into influencers’ authenticity and engagement tactics, noting that: “It’s time to think of the rise of news influencers as not a threat to journalism but a call to action. Our journalistic values remain essential, and if the media industry can adapt, we’ll be able to ensure that real news remains the go-to source of trusted information.”
Boston-based news influencer and NBC 10 Boston commentator Sue O’Connell agrees. She’s mastered concise, engaging storytelling on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Threads, and she believes traditional media can learn from influencers. In February, her breakdown of the political and historical references in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance drew over 13K likes and nearly 500 comments.
“The mainstream news media has not done a very good job of explaining the differences between types of media. What does Op-Ed mean? What is an opinion, and how does that differ from news?” said O’Connell, referring to a concept otherwise known as media literacy. “We all have to do a better job explaining the difference between fact and opinion.”
And that requires transparency. In her videos, O’Connell always notes that she is an NBC journalist. “We are professional journalists, and you can trust us. We are coming to you having vetted this information,” she says.
Harnessing the power of news influencers is also a powerful concept through a PR lens. For journalist influencers, there is an increasing potential that coverage garnered for clients will be amplified across not only mainstream news channels but also personnel channels with high follower counts.
As for influencers like Rogan, although the content is not always news-based, niche, specialized audiences can be influential to reach. Pitching conversations with those influencers might be a strategic fit for some communications programs. Overall, this is a powerful group that we’ll be watching closely.
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