News Influencers Flex Power As They Eclipse Traditional Media

A little while back, we wrote about the rising sphere of content creator journalists — creators who focus on the traditional aspects of journalism delivered through the non-traditional medium of social media. While that segment of the creator economy continues to rise, the slightly more amorphous sphere of news influencers are showing their power too — particularly after the recent U.S. presidential election.

The difference between content creator journalists and news influencers, as with most nuance, lies in the details. But first, let's look at the trends.

News Influencers On Track To Eclipse Traditional Media

A recent study from Pew Research revealed more findings on the state of news influencers, including that 21 percent of U.S. adults say they often get news from people on social media. Comparatively, the number of U.S. adults who say they often get news from TV has stayed consisted around 33 percent, while the number who say they often get news in print sank to a new low of 26 percent. 

When you account for age, the number of U.S. adults using social media for news nearly doubles, with 37 percent of users aged 18 to 29 saying they regularly get news from influencers. That number is only likely to grow over the years as more and more platforms compete for attention. 

Pew defines as a news influencers as "individuals who regularly post about current events and civic issues on social media and have at least 100,000 followers on any of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) or YouTube." An astonishing 85 percent of the qualified accounts under this definition have at least a presence on X, though that doesn't mean it's their primary platform (or that it's even an active presence). 

Platforms like Threads recently announced an option to let users see political content in their feed (something they were previously throttling), while BlueSky has surged in popularity thanks in part to a perceived neutrality in how it handles potential news content. 

However, it's important not to conflate news influencers with journalists, as the former include partisan figures who routinely deliver content designed to fit a particular echo chamber (or tell their audience what they want to hear), rather than down-the-middle coverage of events. 

The Political Leanings Of News Influencers

While content creator journalists stepped into the spotlight thanks in part to things like creator credentials at the Democratic National Convention, news influencers received a major boost in no small part thanks to Republicans embracing their channels and audiences. In self-reported political leanings, Pew did find an edge among news influencers who identify as conservative, Republican, or pro-Donald Trump — 27 percent, compared to 21 percent who identify as liberal, Democratic, or pro-Kamala Harris. 

Still, just over half declined to ascribe an ideological leaning to their content. Importantly, there was no discernible gap between whether conservatives or liberals said they were more likely to get their news from social media. 

However, you'd be forgiven for thinking the medium would skew even further conservative. That is in no small part thanks to what is loosely referred to as "the manosphere," or a general collection of highly influential, almost entirely white male influencers who skew conservative or often platform conservative — or even alt-right — figures on their shows. As Wired noted, Donald Trump spent a disproportionate amount of time courting these influencers and their audiences, a strategy that likely played into his campaign winning more men under 30 than any Republican since 2008, with a 52-48 edge over Kamala Harris.

While the overall number of news influencers may seem fairly even, there's no doubt that top conservative-leaning influencers dwarf liberal-leaning influencers in audience size. 

News Influencers Out To Flex Their Power

Perhaps with the current political landscape more than ever, news influencers command a growing sense of sway. And not just in the United States, either. A study found that one in four U.K.-based influencers were approached about creating election content. It could be a simple "get out the vote" message, or it could be about content surrounding a specific candidate or issue.

More and more politicians and political organizations realize the power of influencers. Whereas social media was originally seen as perhaps an escape from day-to-day life, now it as seen as a place meant to exemplify, explain, influence, and distort day-to-day life. 

Now, Donald Trump's incoming administration is also expected to grant access to those who curry favor with the incoming president. The White House briefing room will soon feature several influencers and political allies with credentials. In that past, Trump sought to limit access to traditional media. Now, he's expanding it to those he views as favorable to his administration's agenda (or, more likely, him personally). 

While this particular brand of influence may be more jarring due to the controversial nature of the candidate, the reality of news influencers in places once considered the top of the heap for political journalists probable won't go away even after the Trump administration. Because the reality is, influencers have power to move people not just towards products (like with traditional advertisements), but towards ideals and ideologies altogether. 

And with trust in traditional media continually in the dumps (only 31 percent of Americans say they fully or somewhat trust the media to report the news), influencers will only continue to rise in political prominence. (At least until Americans ultimately stop trusting them, too).