At the end of my presentation at INMA’s CEO Roundtable, I offered six potential actions media executives should be considering based on the rise of the content creator.

Those are:

1. Meet audiences where they are: Post more content directly to social platforms — don’t wait for them to come to you.

2. Think like a creator: Be human, relatable, and responsive; build two-way conversations, not one-way broadcasts.

3. Experiment with short-form video: Use quick, visual, and personality-driven storytelling to reach younger and mobile-first audiences.

4. Spotlight your journalists as personalities: Encourage staff to build individual followings and show their voice and expertise.

5. Test partnerships with local creators: Collaborate on coverage, events, or social series to tap into new audiences and build trust.

6. Incubate in small, measurable ways: Test a single format, platform, or audience engagement tactic for a set period of time, track the results, and adjust.

Taken together, these steps don’t require a wholesale reinvention of your newsroom — but they do call for a shift in mindset. The rise of the creator economy is less about copying influencers and more about adopting their agility, authenticity, and audience-first approach. 

Start small, measure impact, and scale what works. The sooner media companies lean into these practices, the better positioned they’ll be to grow relevance, trust, and revenue in a changing landscape.

If you’d like to subscribe to my bi-weekly newsletter, INMA members can do so here.

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