Diversity of news creator ecosystem is broad but financial security isn’t guaranteed

By George Montagu Head of Insights FT Strategies London, United Kingdom Connect As I tried to record the 16th cut of my first-ever (20-second) TikTok video, I realised creating short-form videos is easier said than done. While many in the news industry have been quick to criticise the work of news creators or downplay their importance, few have taken the time to watch or create similar work.Having spent six months immersing myself in the world of news creators - watching their videos, interviewing them, and examining platform/audience data - I have a newfound respect for what they are doing and what they can offer the information ecosystem.In this blog post, I want to tell you more about what I have learned and some of my key reflections from The News Creator Project. If you feel like you know just a tiny bit more about news creators, that will be a greater success than my TikTok foray.Reflection 1: The diversity of the news creator ecosystem is something to beholdBy definition, creators are people who invent or make something new. Although the information creators are sharing may be second-hand, the way in which they deliver it is entirely original.The combination of tone, language, pace, length, structure, visual cues, body language, editing, and call-to-action creates an immersive and unique storytelling experience.Having said that, news creators can still be grouped based on the type of work they do. In the News Creator Project, we identified three groups: investigators, commentators, and explainers.Investigators uncover new information through in-depth original reporting using primary sources, fieldwork, or publicly available documents. Often, they are ex-journalists, on-the-ground witnesses, or subject matter experts. Examples include Bisan Owda, Johnny Harris, Cleo Abram, No Lab Coat Required, and Howtown.Commentators interpret and react to events and the news, typically reported by other primary sources. This group overlays their opinions, perspectives, and personal judgements on what is happening. Examples include The Deshbhakt, The Young Turks, Adeola Fayehun, Nikita Redkar, Mehdi Hasan, Chris Cillizza, and The Rest is Politics.Explainers simplify, restructure, and reformat the news to make it more engaging and digestible. This group relies primarily on existing sources or coverage from others, often being selective about sharing their opinion. Examples include TLDR News, The Daily Aus, Simple Politics, Tangle News, Under The Desk News, and Omar Agamy.Reflection 2: News creators adopt their own, typically self- or audience-determined standards, that broadly align with those already seen in journalismNot all news creators have a formal background in journalism. Whether they were a chef (V Spehar from Under The Desk News), a teacher (Tatton Spiller from Simple Politics), or a lawyer (Aaron Parnas), these creators set their own audience-determined standards.Unlike many traditional news outlets, very few of the news creators we spoke to pursue or value objectivity. Their reasons vary; some feel objectivity is unattainable or outdated (ultimately, everyone has some kind of bias), and others think it is undesirable (people come to them for their opinions and perspectives).For some of our advisory board members, this widespread rejection of objectivity could have negative implications for society. For others, replacing objectivity with higher levels of transparency (what their ideology is and where their funding comes from, for example) is a suitable substitute.Reflection 3: The vast majority of news creators are struggling to make moneyUnfortunately, news creators, unlike their gaming or entertainment counterparts, aren't buying purple Lamborghinis or signing US$100 million deals with Amazon. In fact, almost all of the news creators we spoke to had supplementary income to support their journalism.We spoke to a full-time project managers, freelancers, social media strategists, and strategy consultants. As one creator put it, "None of what we do makes that much money … you have to be pretty big to be sustainable and breaking even is considered sustainable in the news creator space."The financial reality news creators face is stark:Platform ad revenue is helpful but often insufficient: "Even though I have over 250,000 followers, I've had months where I get US$14,000 - and then the next month it drops to US$8,000, then US$5,000, then below US$4,000, and it breaks my heart to see. I'm dipping into savings. It's not sustainable yet … "Access to direct sponsorship deals with brands is limited: "So many of the brands that should want to get in front of my audience have never purchased newsletter ads before … they just buy directly from platforms because they don't think about small-scale advertising."Subscriptions and donations are extremely valuable, but the willingness for some formats is still nascent (e.g. short-form video).But really, my greatest reflection from this project is to always challenge your assumptions and see the best in people. Of course, news creators present a challenge to the information ecosystem, but they also create a massive opportunity.An opportunity to engage billions of people in information they would not receive otherwise. Let's lean in to this group and see what we can achieve as a collective. YOU MUST BE A MEMBER TO ACCESS THIS CONTENT Become An INMA Member or Log In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . About George Montagu George Montagu is head of insights at FT Strategies in London, United Kingdom. George can be reached at [email protected]. Related Articles Key newsroom insights from INMA's CEO Roundtable 27 August 2025 Amalie Nash The best creator-model journalists are journalists 26 August 2025 Amalie Nash AI excels as a reporting tool but not as a reporter 6 August 2025 Paula Felps E-commerce gives news companies a blueprint for personalising U... 29 July 2025 Mohamad Rimawi Reuters Institute research details the new rules of the news ec... 2 July 2025 Paula Felps Globe and Mail leans into specificity, in-house strengths to pr... 4 June 2025 Kiran Rana Baseline audience reports contextualise current environment, pr... 1 May 2025 Stefan ten Teij... Interaction rate, engagement velocity are among key social enga... 27 April 2025 Chris Miles Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.