“If the book we are reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading it for?” - Franz Kafka

The days of carpet bombing and gatekeeping in media have indeed ended, even though in the artificial paradises of generative AI, there emerges anew a need for a recognized reference, or even a singular, labeled, watermarked, and triple-verified source of information.

By Kati Bremme, Director of Innovation at France Télévisions and Editor-in-Chief at Méta-Media

Recent studies by Reuters and the Pew Research Center have sounded an alarm: for 20% and 32% of young adults aged 18 to 24, TikTok is now the primary gateway to information. In light of this, traditional media must face a critical challenge: evolve to appeal to a young audience crucial for democracy, or risk losing this audience to charismatic influencers who captivate a generation often beset by doubt and concern with entertaining formats. Should we mimic them, integrate them, or challenge them?

In the last century, journalists inevitably played the role of influencers, being, through the media they worked for, the sole source of information for most people. Today, since the miracle of the Hudson River reported on the now-defunct Twitter, anyone can be a journalist, influencer, or rather a content creator, as they prefer to be called, whether they are macro, micro, or nano...

Once, the role of influencer was reserved for the media elite. Today, it is accessible to everyone thanks to digital tools. Unlike traditional newsrooms, creators rapidly adopt AI innovations to amplify their impact. They no longer need printing presses or broadcast stations to reach wide audiences. With automated means of creation, distribution, and personalization, they can now engage a vast and diverse audience, revolutionizing the media landscape.

Arianna Huffington was among the first to embark on the Internet in blog form (the web 1.0 version of the influencer). She was followed by journalists like Samuel Etienne, who kept the press alive on Twitch during the pandemic by playing the role of the "boomer" speaking to the young in a web 2.0 manner. What is the recipe for success of HugoDécrypte, Taylor Lorenz, Rana Ayyub, Squeezie, Fang Fang, Maria Ressa, Kara Swisher & Co? How can traditional media remain relevant as audiences increasingly turn to the 50 million content creators worldwide, including 150,000 in France, sharing their interests and skills online?

New Relationship, New Definition

Millions of young people already prefer influencers and creators as reliable information sources. This consumer trust isn't necessarily based on the quality of reporting or the prestige of a brand, but on solid parasocial relationships. They don’t need the intermediary of a journalist: young internet users willingly dive into current topics that interest them using TikTok’s search bar to form their opinions, often influenced by popular online figures.

The Larousse dictionary still describes a journalist as “a person whose main, regular, and paid occupation is the practice of journalism in one or several written or audiovisual press organs.” But the profession itself is shifting toward new horizons. What defines a journalist today? A press card or their work? Working for a given media outlet, public or private, already signifies a certain reduction in independence, as the journalist must conform to a more or less directed editorial line. Television presenters, by their embodied role, were perhaps always a bit more “influencer” than their counterparts in the written press, like Bernard Pivot, who could propel the sales of a book featured on his iconic show. Today, televised information tends increasingly toward entertainment with immersive technologies, a development strongly influenced by American TV trends.

Bernard Pivot, one of the first “journalist-influencers” in culture

When the power dynamics of newsrooms with their audiences have not changed for centuries, influencers’ relationships with their followers are more bilateral: they listen, interact, take advice from their community, and sometimes even include them in their content. They often express a subjective and intimate perspective on personal topics and can discuss mundane or personal issues, balancing self-promotion and authenticity. Some “influencer-bloggers” have later managed to capitalize on their privileged rapport and understanding of audience needs, like Ezra Klein who started with a “web log,” and was among the first bloggers to obtain press accreditation for a political event in 2004, founding Vox Media in 2014.

Information-Entertainment

The notion of journalism as an institution aimed at educating, informing, and elevating is today shaken by commercial pressure that steers it toward entertainment. Against this current, a new citizen journalism has developed on social networks and the Internet. With generative AI, we are already witnessing the rise of virtual influencers, and tomorrow it will be easy to transform a text into a podcast or a video, abolishing the boundaries between classic information formats, serving either mass production or quality, according to the economic imperatives and editorial wills of each.

I still remember the reactions in newsrooms when they were introduced to the HugoDécrypte channel, by the young Hugo Travers who launched information formats on YouTube in 2015. “This isn’t journalism.” Not serious enough. Not formatted enough. Too embodied. Too entertaining. Too polarizing. “But it appeals to the younger generations.”

Hugo Travers created his YouTube channel, HugoDécrypte, in 2015

Thanks to their pedagogical approach and strong presence on social networks, content creators make news accessible to an audience often detached from traditional media. Journalist influencers like American YouTuber Philip DeFranco or Indian journalist Faye D'Souza use their platforms to present news in a direct and engaging manner. These professionals succeed in bridging the gap between traditional journalism and the expectations of a connected public, eager for immediacy and transparency. Information becomes more of a two-way communication.

Contrary to widespread discourse, the younger generations do make a distinction between journalists and influencers, as Anne Cordier explains: teenagers clearly differentiate between content creators—whom they often call “influencers”—who broadcast entertainment and testimony (like Squeezie, cited as a reference regarding video games, or Léna Situations, appreciated by young girls for her fashion posts)—and those who produce more serious informational content in their eyes (like Mister Géopolitix or Jemenbatsleclito, account of feminist creator Camille Aumont Carnel). And they prefer these formats for informing themselves, even as some newsroom managers still cry wolf when one wants to integrate TikTok into the information distribution model. The influencer landscape is a vast and constantly evolving space. Before denouncing the placid dumbing down of the reader or their manipulation by the proponents of the new media discourse, we must listen to American journalist Kara Swisher, who notes that the media should really worry: each day, the quality of blogosphere content increases while that of print newsrooms decreases.

New influence brands are emerging by integrating the new usages of younger generations (and increasingly those of older ones). Brut was among the first platforms that use short, impactful videos to broadcast news. Their visual and narrative approach (non-embodied at their beginnings, embodied today) has responded to the usages of a broad public. As our colleagues from Yle predict, soon, it will be necessary to broadcast information on Roblox if we still want to reach the Alpha generation, who now identify more with their avatars than their own reflections in the mirror.

From the Intent to Influence

What then does a journalist influencer do? Do they intend to influence public opinion? The amalgamation between influencers and journalists certainly harms young people’s understanding of what information is. In September 2023, Taylor Swift called her 280 million followers on Instagram to register on electoral rolls, prompting an immediate influx of 35,000 young people, and Léo Nora, with more than 17,000 followers on his TikTok account, published a video in English viewed nearly a million times since last November. “Don’t come to Paris for the Olympics.” From rumor to verified information, there is no hierarchy, no editor-in-chief on social networks.

Already in 2004, the Boston Chronicle emphasized the particular nature of information bloggers of the time, whose writing was characterized by a subjective style, at a time when smartphone video did not yet exist: “Anyone who owns a computer and home publishing software can qualify themselves as they wish. If it’s a couple of retirees who simply decide they have an opinion, that doesn’t make them a press organ. It just makes them a couple of retirees with an opinion and a website.” As information media, influencers often navigate this blurred space between journalism and advocacy, not hesitating to direct their audiences toward fundraising for parties and candidates in this “super-election year.” TikTok has always claimed an intent to entertain, but usages have evolved toward search engine and information consultation functions (with the war in Ukraine, the judicial saga between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict). Its rapid growth has attracted partisan political messages, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. Monitoring and investigating the spread of these messages are complicated by the lack of an approved API (application programming interface) to access the data flow generated on the Chinese platform.

Screenshot from the Instagram account @nextgenamerica

“Since 2016, the trend is that the most powerful messengers in politics are real people, community folks who look like your neighbors,” stated Bradley Beychok, president of the American Bridge 21st Century political action committee. Politicians increasingly rely on micro-influencers in their campaigns.
Digital journalism converges with the culture of influence. Traditional media highlight the biographies of journalists, and more and more video subjects are embodied. Must we all become influencers? The New York Times editorial board adopts a restrictive policy on this subject. Yet, the committee tasked with reviewing external projects of journalists approved more than 90% of the 200 projects proposed by journalists eager to develop their own brand. Other media integrate influencers directly into their editorial teams.

Performative Authenticity

Using the metaphor of a theoretical play, sociologist Erving Goffman described the concept of self-representation as an “actor.” A transposable interpretation in more recent history, where influencers invest in impression management. They use storytelling techniques, filters, edits, and strategic collaborations to shape a consistent and appealing image. Their success often depends on their ability to control and direct their audience’s perceptions.

The dynamics between influencers and their audience are interactive. Comments, likes, and shares serve as feedback, guiding future performances, the editorial line, and chosen themes. This interaction creates a feedback cycle where the audience influences the content and vice versa. Influencers adjust their content based on reactions, constantly optimizing their impact and reach, which can pose problems for informational content. A key paradox is the quest for authenticity in stylized performances: they must appear authentic while being performative. This tension, central to their success and credibility, is often managed by controlled disclosure of vulnerabilities or “real” moments, creating an emotional bond while maintaining narrative control.

On the other hand, the concealment of subjectivity is made all the easier as mechanical reproduction techniques erase the singularity of the original (the “aura” of Walter Benjamin). Perverse disembodiment since, far from entirely suppressing emotion, it rather shifts the object toward the satisfaction of a sort of vain spectacularization of life. In historical media, where there were previously sales departments to manage the optimized distribution of newspapers, today it is more the journalists themselves who must market information on social networks. They have then developed a love-hate relationship with the platforms. The “digital schizophrenia” leaves us perpetually torn between fascination and fear of new technologies.

Fragile Economic Balances

Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO of Microsoft, described the dilemma of newsrooms in the 21st century: “Who will pay for information?” We remember the courtship operations of social network executives with historical media to feed their content platforms in the early days of the digital revolution. Quickly, these platforms realized that they could generate better retention (an important indicator for advertising) with entertainment and funny videos rather than with in-depth analyses and verified news reports, thus endangering entire media that had built their economy on a distribution channel controlled by the tech giants. Recent changes to the Instagram algorithm to limit the visibility of political content have led to a drop in engagement from 70 major news accounts, decreasing their interactions by 26%, when it’s not Meta simply ending access to information on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada.

Despite a fragile and platform-dependent status of entrepreneur journalist, many young journalists, for whom the straitjacket of a historical newsroom seems too restrictive, dream of being influencers, the “coolest kids on the block,” encouraged to increase their audience and, in return, often their bank accounts. For others, this choice becomes a necessity imposed by the lack of opportunities available in traditional newsrooms. Still, the combination of influencers and social media algorithms is perhaps the most powerful form of advertising ever invented.

But the lone struggle on social networks is tough, and cultural relevance is not eternal. It’s a 24/7 job, social media algorithms do not forgive a moment’s rest, and the tech giants are unfamiliar with paid vacations. And each social network has its specifics. TikTok is the best place to quickly gain a wide audience, YouTube to monetize it in the long run, and Instagram is historically the place for deals with brands. For X, “it’s complicated.” It is true that the “influence investment” dons the finest attire: for 1 euro invested, the return averages 9.60 euros.

Influencers and journalists share their love-hate relationship with social networks

For now, journalism start-ups attract significant and devoted audiences but struggle to convert this loyalty into financial support. Most depend on philanthropic funding, which remains rare and fragmented. In a dual surge of editorial and economic independence, we observed during the global pandemic the departure of a number of journalists from major emblematic newsrooms to launch their own newsletters. They were then nicknamed the substackerati, after the platform that serves as their publication tool.

Another response to the quest for an economic model for influencers to avoid navigating the murky waters of mixing advertising and information might be Web3 technologies, this new participatory Internet, whose mass adoption is still awaited. One of the key elements of Web3 is a user-centered experience. This experience does not need a central platform, like X, TikTok, or YouTube, to mediate peer-to-peer interactions. Sites like WeAre8 or Good-Loop reward engaged users by sharing a percentage of revenues. Web3 also allows for the “ownership” of digital assets, as experimented by the magazine TIME. The principles of these technologies can be applied to journalism and create a new way to consume information. The next TikTok might not be a single platform, but a direct relationship with audiences. And the “cost per teleportation” in Roblox might be the next cost per click.

Long Formats and Investigative Journalism

Journalists leaving the secure haven of a newsroom and the ungrateful context of “hurried literature,” a term attributed by poet Matthew Arnold to journalism, is not a new phenomenon: the number of journalists who became writers is plentiful (some would even say that the best writers are those with a background in journalism). For a print press journalist, a book is somewhat akin to what a documentary is for a TV journalist. Isn’t the number of print runs of a book a bit like the equivalent of a number of likes? Faced with newsrooms that have been cutting their means to the bone, closing their foreign offices, and prioritizing the chase after hot news, often accompanied by superficial management of social networks, independent journalists who dedicate themselves to long formats and investigative journalism stand out by taking the time to develop their stories.

🏆#PrixAlbertLondres23
Prix presse écrite @wilsonfache pour ses reportages en Afghanistan, Tel Aviv & Ukraine
Prix audiovisuel @hlamtrong - "Daech, les enfants fantômes" @Cineteve_prod
Prix du livre @N_Legendre - "Silence dans les champs" @EditionsArthaudhttps://t.co/aKlzLaA7ia pic.twitter.com/W5FTb8p8s7

— Prix Albert Londres (@albert_londres) November 27, 2023

What some independent journalists can afford at the cost of a multitude of tasks ranging from content production to managing their own marketing and finances, newsrooms can only put in place when there is collaboration or partnership. Or change of priorities. Or merger... Michael Moore explains that his documentaries express his opinions, letting each viewer form their own. Independent journalists can take time on a story, unlike many traditional newsrooms that struggle to update their priorities.

Influencers Under Influence in Asia

Influencers in Asia play a crucial role in shaping public opinion and spreading trends, especially in states on the fringes of democracy. As their popularity continues to grow, a growing mistrust of state media and government attempts to regain control over the presence of influencers online challenge an emerging model of freedom. In China, journalist Luo Changping uses social networks to criticize government policies, often at the risk of reprisals. Influencer Chen Qiushi gained notoriety during the Covid-19 epidemic by sharing firsthand accounts from Wuhan, highlighting gaps in official reports.

This dual role of reporting and influence allows them to shape public discourse while walking a tightrope of government regulations. In India, journalists like Faye D'Souza use social media to provide critical analyses and independent reports. In South Korea, figures like Joo-Jin Woo, an investigative journalist, are popular for their in-depth investigations into corruption and abuses of power. In Japan, journalists like Shiori Ito tackle issues of social justice and public policy (notably around gender equality), playing a crucial role during elections by sharing critical information and alternative perspectives, influencing public debates and electoral choices.

It's time for #NLHafta!

This week, @AbhinandanSekhr, @ramankirpal, @javashree, and @tweets_prateekg are joined by @fayedsouza to discuss Maharashtra and Delhi polls, Pune’s #Porsche car crash, and more.

Tune in: https://t.co/q90ivqCSGk pic.twitter.com/udgJcrzJet

— newslaundry (@newslaundry) May 26, 2024

But governments quickly put in place measures aimed at framing the influence of digital celebrities and ensuring that their messages remain in line with official guidelines. The phenomenon of journalist influencers on Chinese social media platforms in particular reflects the unique interaction between journalism, social media, and state control. The central leadership of the Party has adopted a media monitoring function to strengthen its control over a failing administration and to highlight aspects of bureaucratic capitalism that had become so relentless that they compromised the very survival of the system.

A new surveillance journalism, embodied by influencers including foreigners, promises to reinforce the hegemony of the Party by smoothing the rough edges of the ongoing Chinese transformation and by monitoring the political, economic, and digital boundaries of an emerging authoritarian market society.

Embodying the Community

For some, journalism outside newsrooms is also the only way to assert themselves. Taylor Lorenz, a journalist at the Washington Post and a specialist in digital culture, has explored the story of content creators on the Internet and observes that “the first influencers were women because the media were not interested in their centers of interest.” Influencers use social platforms to tackle topics often under-represented in traditional media, thus offering a diversity of perspectives and enriching the public debate, taking on part of the work of a public service.

Even if efforts are ongoing in most media, building and strengthening one’s audience tomorrow will inevitably involve integrating minorities into content production to establish an authentic connection with younger audiences, and to counter an era fragmented, where the masses are difficult to reach. The Vice Guide to Culture 2023 had already pointed out that younger generations “turn to their peers and their trusted communities before choosing to trust outside experts. Moreover, they collectively boycott organizations in which they do not believe.” Dylan Page (10M), a young news content creator from the United Kingdom, has more followers and views combined than the BBC (2.6M) and the New York Times (570K) even on current topics like Gaza. Traditional war reporters not being able to go to Gaza, many of the most compelling accounts were told by residents, including a new generation present on social networks.

Screenshot from the Instagram account of Plestia Alaqad @byplestia

Plestia Alaqad is a resident of Gaza whose documentation on the daily hardships has brought a personal touch absent from mainstream media. Faced with these challenges, WhatsApp is becoming increasingly important for information. With the launch of Threads and Bluesky, the work of public engagement teams has become more demanding than ever. Major media are increasingly seeking to broaden the range of voices covering topics.

The expectations of consumers regarding the representation of minority communities are becoming more sophisticated, starting with the person, not the identifier such as gender, sexuality, or race. Minority communities are rewriting the rules of engagement with brands, seeking narratives and partnerships that complicate representation rather than simplify it. Ensuring that information is accessible to all is not just a matter of ethical responsibility, but also a legal obligation in the European Union.

Regulation of the Wild West

The European Council has approved conclusions to support influencers as online content creators in the EU. It encourages member states to dialogue with influencers and their organizations to clarify their role and applicable legislation. Furthermore, it asks the Commission to explore means of support at the European level, including media education, promoting online responsibility, and the use of EU funds and programs.

Europe is not the only region in the world looking at the regulation of increasingly influential influencers: in China, the cybersecurity law imposes severe restrictions on online content, with significant sanctions for offenses. In India, recent legislation requires social media platforms to monitor and regulate content published by influencers. In Japan, the code of ethics for influencers imposes clear rules on the disclosure of commercial relationships. Creators must also adhere to high standards of online conduct in South Korea, where consumer protection laws require enhanced transparency about sponsored content.

And the phenomenon is self-regulating a bit: the trend of “deinfluencing” (or “deinfluencing”) is a reaction to traditional influencer practices on social networks. Instead of constantly promoting products and encouraging consumption, “deinfluencers” urge their audience to be more selective and thoughtful in their purchases. This trend criticizes the often exaggerated recommendations of influencers and focuses on reducing overconsumption, which has benefits for the environment and personal well-being, ...and the informational ecosystem. When just a few years ago, the early social networks served as a new coffee machine where we shared our experiences (of watching television programs live) in a sort of Agora, we now live in a fragmented world where it is easier than ever to completely ignore what others consume. It is also easier than ever to attach undue importance to information or trends that may seem popular but are actually very confined. In this new world, where recommendation algorithms prevail over the old model of followers, the only tech giants are the gatekeepers of knowledge on how information circulates on their platforms, especially if they also hold the Holy Grail of generative AI.

Artificial Journalists and Disinformation

With the arrival of AI in newsrooms, the future of journalism raises many questions. Julian Assange urges journalists to adopt a scientific approach, relying on verifiable sources. In this new world, half-real, half-artificial, we witness the emergence of unwitting presenter-influencers: Nota Bene and Cyprien have seen their images used without their consent by AI, while Julien Bugier and Anne-Claire Coudray found themselves promoting products in advertisements without their knowledge. Our 2023 notebook was devoted to AI in newsrooms, a phenomenon accelerated by the launch of ChatGPT. We will therefore only deal with this subject in the margins here. But faced with a profession that has been constantly questioned in recent years, the emergence of automatic pens adds yet more questions to an already long series of challenges.

Image extracted from one of the deepfakes showing Anne-Claire Coudray and Maître Gims

After the digital transformation, we are now living through a virtual transformation. AI-based tools that modify the language of information to improve relevance and understanding for specific audiences will increasingly be present in the information landscape in the years to come. Chatbots, apps, and browser extensions will increasingly spread their influence. Key Chinese opinion leaders (KOLs), particularly in the e-commerce industry, are already turning to digital clones to generate content 24/7. According to MIT Technology Review, the Nanjing-based company Silicon Intelligence can create a simple AI clone for only 8,000 yuan (about 1,000 euros), a price that can increase for more complex programming. The company only needs a minute of video footage of a human to train a virtual videographer. Lately, “Virtual Mourners” have become a trend on social networks. In the world of influencers, where everyone seeks to stand out, how far can one go too far?

Ancients Against Moderns

Today, more young people aspire to be influencers than journalists. It is so tempting to escape economic uncertainty by winning hearts (and minds) on the Internet, even if the economic balance remains fragile. If content creators are the new media industry, what then becomes of traditional media? Could we not simply bring together the best of both worlds under the same roof?

This dynamic pushes the media to innovate and adapt their formats to remain relevant. Collaborations between traditional media and influencers, like that of Samuel Etienne on Twitch with France Télévisions, streamer Quineapple with Arte, or ecological content creators participating in 2050Now, the new media of the Les Echos-Le Parisien group, show that integrating influencer techniques can enrich the media offering.

Screenshot of the @girl_go_green account for the media 2050now

The Deutsche Welle Akademie and its partners in Serbia, where social networks are full of unmoderated hateful comments, collaborate with YouTube influencers to make media education more captivating for young people. This project transforms adolescent idols into educators. When they talk about cybersecurity, hate speech, or harassment, YouTubers, credible authorities, carry more weight. Furthermore, UNESCO facilitates exchanges of skills between journalists and influencers, thus affirming the interest in valuing collaboration between these two spheres rather than considering them in opposition.

Imagining the New Journalistic Cuisine

This new dynamic with audiences marks a turning point for public service media. Gone are the days when only commercial indicators like the number of subscribers or visits dictated their success. Today, the impact is also measured through interaction and direct feedback from audiences. Newsrooms, traditionally oriented toward a top-down dissemination of information, are transforming into true listeners of the public. This approach recalls that of journalists who, in the past, would meet with their audience for lack of digital means. A practice brought up to date by SVT with the Fika med SVT approach, where journalists shared snacks with citizens to better grasp and reflect their perspectives. Newsrooms are becoming more like communicating vessels with their audiences, including the youngest (a vital evolution to avoid the “cringe” effect around the question of the right emoji or embarrassing “daddy dancing” moments).

Our children live in a different digital world. The future might well resemble fragments of the present, where individual influencers command vast audiences, and where social networks and text media take a back seat to video platforms with recommendation-focused algorithms, sometimes featuring ultra-violent news.

In the meantime, among the testimonials we have collected from journalism students in France, very few mention influencers. They do not primarily choose the web and social networks option offered by schools and still aspire to join a media outlet, a reassuring fact. And a certain number of people (including young ones) do not even have a presence on social networks marked by influencers.

Even if (or because) young people are the first to use social networks to inform themselves, media and information literacy integrating content creators is essential to avoid the mixing of genres in this new dynamic of influencers-journalists. Finding the right balance between attracting young people and maintaining traditional audiences is essential. Beyond buzzwords like AI, immersion, or gaming, it is important to forge a better relationship with our audiences. “Video didn’t kill the radio,” and influencers do not signify the end of journalism. Creators are redefining the codes of information. HugoDécrypte’s social networks now cumulate over 14 million followers, thus surpassing Le Monde, and MrBeast has more subscribers than Netflix. Let’s learn from each other. Influencers will be a bit more influenced by journalists, and journalists will become a bit more like influencers.* Happy reading!

*in the sense of the impact so sought after by public service media, not in the pejorative sense of manipulation, of course.