The Addition’s Charlotte Henry is writing a monthly column for Media Voices focused on what business lessons publishers can learn from creators. This edition, she looks at some of the opportunities and pitfalls of going it alone, from owning an audience to the precarious nature of platforms.
There is a clear moment in tech journalist Kara Swisher’s new memoir, “Burn Book” where she takes the leap into becoming an entrepreneur. “I realized, in short, that I was and would always be a great reporter and a less good employee,” she writes. “Which led me to the obvious conclusion that I wanted to have control of my work and my destiny.”
In the current media climate, more and more journalists may well also be considering managing their own destiny instead of hoping they can avoid the next round of cuts and closures.
Creators, in many cases, are already operating in this way and can serve as a good example to journalists pondering their future. The whims of the algorithm notwithstanding, creators are, by and large, in control of their own fate – they can publish what they want. Their success is down to their efforts.
At a certain point, successful creators become a business. They may employ a team and have multiple products and revenue streams. Phrases like that tend to bring journalists out in a rash, but it is a reality of modern media that many more could, and arguably should, consider.
The benefits of this would go both ways. Seeing more robust journalism within the creator economy would have some really positive effects, not least in getting information to younger people.
The platforms might get nervous about hosting political and news-driven content, (I’m looking at you, Meta), but if that’s where the audience is, that is where, to some extent, journalism needs to go. There are only so many videos made by pretty 20-somethings saying, “hi guys” that we need to consume in a day.
The potential for top talent to go it alone should be in the back of publishers’ minds too. They need to seriously consider the entrepreneurial opportunities that they can give staff within the confines of their outlet, whether that be a newsletter, podcast or some other format.
If publishers fail to do that, I have no doubt that tenacious and innovative reporters and editors will come to the same conclusion that Swisher did – it’s time to take control. Now, Swisher continued to work within the structure of the Wall Street Journal for a while. But she got some ownership, some share in the profit and her direction of travel was set. And it is all much easier to do today.
Owning an audience
Losing talent can often mean losing an audience. Mehdi Hasan has not become an entrepreneur by choice – his show was axed by US cable network MSNBC. However, when faced with various options about his future, he chose to go out on a limb and founded Zeteo, a media company built on Substack. He can do this, in part because he has a passionate and committed fanbase that will be happy to back him.
Press Gazette reported that Zeteo already has at least 94,000 total subscribers, with Hasan commenting that paid subscriptions have been “fivefold above what our expectations were”.
Institutions and brands undoubtedly still carry cache and prestige with them, but so now do individuals. An example of all this coming together successfully is the way the BBC has provided Ros Atkins with the opportunity to continue making his popular explainer videos. However, it is a rare example and I suspect the ones of frustrated journalists feeling stifled and quitting various institutions are far more numerous.
The risks of platforms
All that said, crucial to entrepreneurism is about owning your work. And it is here that their lies the inherent conflict within the creator economy that I pointed out in my opening column last month – the content might be yours, but it is then handed over to a platform or a publication. And with that comes huge risks. It is worth listening and reading The Verge editor Nilay Patel on this subject as he outlines his passion for blogging and doubling-down on his outlet’s website.
Look at the renewed moves to ban TikTok in the US last week. The short-form video app disappearing from app stores there is a very real possibility once again. If it happens, it would likely prompt action in other countries, including the UK. Certain creators are almost entirely dependent on TikTok, yet it could disappear with a swipe of President Joe Biden’s pen.
Or the story of Evolving Prisons podcast’s Kaigan Carrie. She had built a respectable paid following to her podcast on Spotify, which was wiped out overnight when the platform flagged the content on her podcast for ‘suspicious payments activity’ and removed the whole lot. Although they have since reinstated the audio, Carrie has had to start all over again with followers, paid subscribers and statistics.
The issue applies across the board, though. While the likes of Instagram and YouTube are more stable than TikTok, changes can still be implemented that would vaporise everything a creator has built without them having any say over them.
This is an area in which both journalists and creators have failed. Reporters laid off recently have highlighted how websites like The Messenger were taken down and their work became inaccessible, making it harder to demonstrate their talents to future employers.
I actually had to go through my own press clippings yesterday – a horrifying experience – and found work from various outlets I’d contributed to had disappeared.
Many paths for journalism
Whatever options journalists choose, we need to use, not be used, by platforms. They must be work for us as a funnel, not the endpoint for your work.
Ultimately, I’m not saying every gainfully employed hack should jump ship and start a blog, newsletter, podcast and/or YouTube channel. Bluntly, I don’t want the extra competition! But journalism in 2024 can be done more ways than battling for staff positions or freelance gigs.
Charlotte Henry is an author, journalist and broadcaster who creates and runs The Addition newsletter and podcast; an award-winning publication looking at the crossover between media and technology.
