They’re eating our lunch

Where are people getting their news? A report published this week by Pew Research Center, entitled ‘America’s News Influencers’, suggests that it’s increasingly not with the mainstream press.

Two of the report’s findings stood out:

• About one-in-five Americans – including a much higher share of adults under 30 (37%) – say they regularly get news from influencers on social media.
• Most influencers (77%) have no affiliation or background with a news organisation.

The press clearly has a challenge on its hands with regards to attracting tomorrow’s readers, because so many young people are attracted by what influencers have to offer.

Pew’s findings also suggest that more and more people are getting their news from non-professional sources – from people who are not necessarily journalistically trained and who work outside of editorial structures, reporting lines and codes of practice.

In an era of fake news and misinformation, this could have a negative impact on society as a whole. In extreme situations, it might fundamentally skew the democratic process.

From the press’s point of view, the question is, how can we compete effectively against influencers for a bigger audience share, when our journalists are constrained by our editorial line, house style, journalistic ethics and, occasionally, our proprietor’s political preferences?

What makes the press special is its professional standards, what makes influencers attractive is their lack of them.

A conundrum that the press will need to address.

(Interestingly, the report also found that, “slightly more news influencers explicitly identify as Republican, conservative or pro-Donald Trump (27% of news influencers) than Democratic, liberal or pro-Kamala Harris (21%),” which might help partially explain the recent election result.)

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