Who gets to be called a journalist in 2025?

Happy New Year! Instead of reflecting on 2024, I want to look forward to what creator journalism could become in 2025. 

As influencers continue gaining trust as news sources, a common narrative frames journalists and creators as rivals locked in a battle for credibility. But this divide is more fear than fact. What if, instead of gatekeeping, we focused on building a bigger, more inclusive definition of journalism – one that embraces the new voices shaping the future of news? Let’s explore what that path forward might look like.

First, some recent examples of the us vs. them mindset:

In the examples above ⬆️ and in the wave of post-election hand-wringy pieces lamenting influencers “stealing” audiences from news organizations, the concern often feels less about protecting the integrity of information and more about grappling with an existential fear – the fear that an industry built on decades of expertise could simply vanish. With unending newsroom layoffs, it’s not hard to see why. It’s the unsettling realization that values like “tradition,” “training,” and “credibility” might no longer carry the weight they once did. (Spoiler: They still do. Trust is just being earned differently.)

We’ve seen this pattern before – not just in media, but whenever legacy systems are disrupted. Those who’ve invested their careers and identities in these systems often struggle to reconcile their sense of worth with the need to adapt. The challenge isn’t just survival; it’s evolution.

Who gets to be called a journalist?

This is a topic I frequently explore with a brilliant group of colleagues who regularly discuss creator journalism and the evolving media landscape. It’s also central to my work with Trusting News, where we’re developing new standards and training programs for creator journalists, many of whom don’t come from traditional backgrounds. In December, it came up in a powerful conversation with my fellow Sulzberger alum, Christabel Nsiah-Buadi, a veteran radio and podcast producer who told me, surprisingly and without hesitation, that she no longer considers herself a journalist.

Chris’ evolution captures that fear and sense of identity unraveling I mentioned above. Her own journey took her from reporting for the BBC and NPR before transitioning into podcasting and eventually landing at Spotify where she built programs to help podcast creators grow their skills and audience. In her case, though, she was the one who decided it was time to think of herself differently.

“At some point I just realized I'm not doing journalism anymore .. why am I calling myself a journalist?” she asked in our recent chat.

“I was letting go of an identity that I’d held so closely,” she said. “The word ‘journalist’ gave me protection. It coded me as someone smart and credible.”

You get where this is going. At a certain point, for Chris, the word “journalist” started to feel too restrictive, especially when she started feeling othered by traditional journalism gatekeepers who saw her work as too far outside the box. She still identified as a “producer” (another word we could spend hours debating) and a mentor to others coming up behind her. But to Chris’ credit, she recognized that – for their own reasons – the creators she was mentoring, and continues to mentor and highlight with her work at Audio Diaspora – didn’t define themselves as journalists either.

I would argue, and did to Chris, that she is still a journalist. It’s the definition that needs to change to suit her and her mentees – not the other way around.

Anyone who’s worked in legacy media knows the gap between how journalists see themselves and how audiences perceive them. Journalists obsess over clear lines between news and opinion, but audiences often don’t notice – or care – because they don’t view those distinctions the same way. The same tension applies to the term “journalist.” While the examples above highlight self-proclaimed “real” journalists lamenting so-called pretenders, audiences don’t draw those lines. And in the end, it’s the audience’s perception, not the industry’s, that shapes the future of journalism.

As long as audiences are interacting with fact-based information, does the label even matter?

Who gets to be called an influencer?

Chris and I spent a lot of time talking about the definition of another word, too: Influencer. Annoying and as tragically online a word as it is, it isn’t one we can afford to ignore. Or fear. Several studies this year raised a red flag 🚩 about Gen Z media consumption and an overwhelming trend that finds younger audiences are increasingly getting their news from influencers vs. traditional news sources. Pew even went further with a look at who the biggest influencers are, by sheer scale.

What that Pew study doesn’t account for, though, is that while sheer scale is one metric of how far someone’s influence extends, it isn’t necessarily the right one in a world where audiences have become so splintered and niche. Consumers are increasingly choosing very specific sources of information about the issues they care about – from news about their local community to identity-based reporting to pastimes and passions. And it’s those micro-influencers that I’m more interested in. Call them journalists or creators or influencers, but people like Bisan Owda on Gaza, Sam Robinson on Detroit or Marisa Kabas’ investigative work are building real audiences around their work. None of these creators showed up on Pew’s list of top 500 news influencers based on scale, but all three are breaking news and having a real impact (aka “influence”) in their areas of coverage.

And consider this: Traditional journalists can be, and are, influencers, too. Just look at Ezra Klein, the Vox founder turned NYT columnist who hit his stride in 2024 and, some say, influenced thinking around Biden’s (un)fitness for a second term so much that he caused Biden’s eventual step back from the ticket in favor of Kamala Harris. Like the more typical influencer, Klein also came in for his fair share of meme-ability, too, with Jezebel’s cringe-inducing piece, “Is everybody horny for Ezra Klein?”

Ezra’s not alone. He’s joined by an expanding list of longtime journos – many of whom have left (or were pushed out of) newsrooms and media companies to launch their own stand-alone projects (see: Yglesias, Matt; Newton, Casey; Lorenz, Taylor; Darcy, Oliver; Couric, Katie; Cillizza, Chris; Hasan, Mehdi; and so on). They may not call themselves influencers, but in terms of impact – and business model – they very much are.

Yes, things are changing, but influence can come from anywhere – a cable news network, TikTok feed, a column backed by the national paper of record or a micro-local newsletter. Similarly, dis- and misinformation can come from all these sources, too. That’s why work to help define what fact-based ethical information looks like is so important to news organizations, creator-model journalists and, most importantly, consumers.

Organizations like Trusting News and studies like this from the Center for News, Technology and Information give me hope that we can build a future where creators and influencers are embraced as part of a broader, credible media ecosystem.

Where we can do more, though, is on the consumer side. The mis- and disinformation will keep coming from all those sources I just mentioned above. No matter how many guidelines, opportunities for training or statements about fact-based and ethical journalism, there will always be organizations and individuals who are just irresponsible, sloppy or nefarious. The proliferation of AI-generated news is making this even worse. Helping consumers, especially young consumers, understand how to find credible information is just as important as training creators. That’s why work being done by hundreds of high school journalism program teachers and groups like CalMatters, Press Pass NYC and others is crucial. It’s not just about creating a pipeline for future journalists, but about helping young minds think critically about all of their information sources.

My hope for 2025

Creator journalism, or influencer news sources, must be embraced as a defining part of the future of news and information. That belief drives Project C, which exists to champion the bold, talented creators stepping out on their own to pursue meaningful storytelling.

“People are turned off by traditional journalism’s snobbery and gatekeeping,” Nsiah-Buadi said when we spoke in December. “Creators are stepping in to tell the stories mainstream outlets miss.”

That’s true. But it’s also true that some newsrooms and organizations are opening the gates. I’m heartened by the work being led by Samantha Ragland at the American Press Institute to draw lessons from newsrooms who have built partnerships with local influencers. Also by the Knight Foundation-funded MOOC focused on creator journalism. And by organizations like AJ+, who partnered with Bisan Owda to produce Emmy and Murrow-award winning work in 2024. And always, always by the creators.

How do we move forward?

• Celebrate Wins Publicly: Continue sharing stellar examples of what rigorous, A-game creator-model journalism looks like. Recognize impactful creator-led investigations and reports to normalize their role in journalism.

• Highlight Diverse Voices – Promote creators from underrepresented communities to broaden perspectives and deepen storytelling. And consider checking out some non-traditional sources if you haven’t before.

• Create Collaborative Spaces: For those of you working in traditional news organizations, start to understand the creators you should be paying attention to – or even partnering with.

• Share your values: Creators, it’s important that you distinguish yourselves in a sea of voices. Signal to your audience again and again your editorial values, how you verify your work and even how your business model impacts what you produce.

• Learn: Take advantage of the resources out there (I’ve written about many here at Project C) to better understand creator journalism or making the transition into this space.

• Advocate for Ethics Training – Push for scalable programs, like the one proposed by Trusting News + Project C, that teach creators ethical standards and fact-checking methods.

• Grow News Literacy: Find out how your local public school systems are equipping teens to think critically. Volunteer to talk to a local high school journalism class or even to work at a high school journalism camp.

The momentum is here. Let’s keep building. Happy 2025!