<
https://theconversation.com/news-influencers-are-reshaping-the-media-insights-from-kenya-nigeria-and-south-africa-270311>
"News creators and influencers have become increasingly important sources of
news as more people turn to social media and video networks like Facebook and
YouTube to inform themselves. By news creators, we mean individuals who create
and distribute content mainly through social and video networks and have some
impact on public debates around news and current affairs.
While traditional news outlets and journalists still tend to dominate attention
for news on legacy platforms like Facebook, data from our
Digital News Report
2025 show that news organisations face growing competition from creators on
other platforms, especially on newer video-heavy networks.
In South Africa, for example, Facebook, YouTube and X users still pay more
attention to traditional news media and journalists than news creators and
influencers. But traditional media are now overshadowed by creators and
personalities on Instagram (59%) and TikTok (52%).
This shift has not gone unnoticed. In some parts of the world, politicians are
routinely adding news creators to their media strategies. Major news brands
like
CNN and the
Washington Post have launched creator collectives or
networks. These generate content for young people that’s personality-driven and
platform-native (consumed within social media platforms rather than on news
websites).
But what kinds of news creators are audiences paying attention to? And how does
their role vary across countries?
We tackle these questions in our study published with colleagues at the
University of Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. We map
out news creators and influencers across 24 countries, including three African
markets: Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
The analysis allowed us to develop an emerging categorisation of news creators,
where we describe what they are offering audiences and how this impacts news
organisations. It also enabled us to identify countries where influencers are
having the biggest (and smallest) impact as well as some of the most important
individuals."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
