Conceptualising the “Newsfluencer”: Intersecting Trajectories in Online Content Creation and Platformatised Journalism

Journalists and other news content creators are negotiating with participatory platforms and entrepreneurial business models. This conceptual article defines and traces the rise of “newsfluencers”: platformatised creators who operate according to the economic and cultural logics of online influencers to produce news content for participatory audiences. Newsfluencers encompass self-employed journalists as well as Substack writers, journalistic YouTubers and TikTokers, and Twitch streamers. This article explicates newsfluencers across four intersecting dimensions: platforms, business models, labour, and cultures. In doing so, the article demonstrates how the news industry, influencer and fandom cultures, platforms, and the creator economy are interconnecting with and transforming each other. It evaluates the extent to which the “authentic” and relational characteristics of newsfluencers can help make journalism more accessible to young audiences, or whether these characteristics are irreconcilable with journalistic accuracy and impartiality. The article concludes by setting an agenda for newsfluencer research.