A newspaper under the ‘influence(r)’

One in five Americans gets their news from influencers. Sixty percent of adults under 30 get news from influencers. That is according to a Pew Research Center survey.

According to an American Press Institute study, 57 percent of Black Gen Z (14 to 30-year-olds) and Millennials (30-44-year-olds) pay independent news influencers. Per the same study, 50 percent of Hispanics, 46 percent of Asians and 43 percent of Whites pay independent news influencers. 

(Note: “Influencer” is a term on its way out the door, according to Sam Ragland, senior vice president and interim executive director of the API. The new, preferred term, she said, at the recent Georgia Trust for Local News State Trust Innovation Summit held recently in Atlanta, is “creator”.)

So, what does that have to do with newspapers?

It means that newspapers that are paying attention know, not only that those age groups will one day represent their readership, but also that there is a need to partner with influencers/creators for content.

Or at least that’s what a number of newspapers are doing, Ragland said. An example of what that might look like comes from the Houston Chronicle. They became aware that there was a creator in their community named @shawnthefoodsheep. He was providing restaurant reviews and reaching average views of 137,000. They reached out and partnered with him to do something in the newspaper. The newspaper’s newsletter signups increased by 150 percent and six of those converted to newspaper subscribers.

It was the proverbial win-win and it’s something we would like to do at the Houston Home Journal. (Partner, for instance, with a creator who might do restaurant reviews. Perhaps a creator who is a member of a book club that talks about their reviews. A creator involved in a club for parents or works solo to provide tips and tricks or things for families to do in Houston County. It’s really a wide-open field.)

I will add it’s easier said than done. One of the ways we were told to search out creators in our area was to do a Google search for with those exact words: “creators in your area.” Alas, all that yielded was websites that were none to happy to teach you – on your dime of course – how to be a “creator in your area.”

A second suggestion was to look up “only fans in your area.” Oh my! Well, that wasn’t embarrassing (sarcastic wit). Unless you, dear reader, are interested in the sexual habits of “Dieselbabe,” or “Cream” or “Roseeekitty,” or “Ebonyhotwife,” you probably don’t want us partnering with “only fans in your area.” 

So, instead we reach out to you. If you are a social media creator, we are interested in partnering with you. (P.S. In a 2025 Muck Rack Study: State of Creator Journalism, of 1,515 journalists surveyed, 522 self-identified as “creator” journalists. Message being: We’re not that different you and us.) The “devils in the details” as they say, meaning it would need to be a structured partnership that benefits most of all our/your readers. That is: Provides a service of value to them. 

If that’s you and if you’re interested, please reach out to me at publisher@hhjonline.com. Or, if you want to cut out the middleman and go straight to the source – the middle woman — of the one who will be managing this, email Brieanna Smith at brieanna@hhjonline.com.