The voices of two creators – journalist turned creator Sophia Smith Galer and Kerstin Hasse, known to her online followers as Hasse mit Liebe – stood out at INMA’s recent Media Innovation Week in Dublin.

Executive director and chief executive Earl Wilkinson commented that the “new” media industry was being reshaped as creators redefine trust, authenticity and audience connection. “Independent voices now command loyalty once held by traditional outlets, especially among younger generations.”

A clear lesson from the Media Innovation week was that news publishers must adapt to creator-driven communication, prioritising transparency, relatability and community – “or risk sliding into irrelevance”.

In an INMA conference blog, he said that a new class of independent creators and influencers had seized “not only attention, but also trust and loyalty – commodities that media brands once assumed were theirs alone”.

With the conversation around creators unavoidable, the voices of Smith Galer and Hasse stood out, their interventions crystallising the challenge and opportunity: “Creators are not the enemy, but the mirror. They are teaching news organisations how audiences want to be spoken to – and what authentic connection looks like in an algorithmically-driven world.”

Others contributed to the argument, with Pew Research Centre digital strategy and communications vice president Jess Awtry and Schibsted senior advisor Lena Samuelsson presenting audience research and sharpened the case further: Creators are already outperforming traditional media on trust and competing head-on for young audiences.

Smith Galer, formerly of the BBC and Vice, said the news industry had underestimated the scale of the creator economy. “If you are not present in the spaces where young audiences live, you are absent from their reality,” she argued.

Her career pivot itself embodies this shift. She has built a direct-to-audience model, producing journalism through TikTok and YouTube that reaches more young people in a day than most traditional outlets could hope for in a month.

“The appeal? Accessibility, personality, and relatability. She is a trusted ‘face’ who explains complex issues without institutional baggage.”

Hasse’s journey reinforced the point. Branded as Hasse mit Liebe, she speaks directly to her community with a mix of intimacy and authority that feels closer to friendship than broadcasting.

“Her approach is not accidental – it is rooted in craft: consistency, clear values, and an instinct for audience needs. She told INMA delegates, ‘People don’t just follow you for the information. They follow you for the way you make them feel seen.’

More speakers addressed the theme, including consultant and former Politiken executive Astrid Jørgensen, while Awtry presented research that confirmed the demand for honesty and intelligence, but also but authenticity and kindness.

“Those qualities are exactly what content creators provide and why younger audiences instinctively gravitate to them. Awtry stressed that creators ‘show their humanity’, while many news publishers still appear faceless.”

The message was brought home by Smith Galer (pictured) who warned that publishers must avoid two traps: dismissing creators as lightweight and attempting to copy them without authenticity: ‘Audiences can smell inauthenticity in a heartbeat,’ she said.

Wilkinson said several practical lessons emerged from INMA Dublin discussions about what news publishers can learn from creators:

-personality matters: News brands must put faces to their reporting. Whether through correspondents, anchors, or vertical video explainers, people connect with people, not logos;

-consistency beats perfection: Creators publish often, iterate quickly, and accept imperfection. Waiting for the polished feature package risks irrelevance in a scroll-first world;

-engagement is two-way: Creators respond to comments, stitch other content, and let audiences co-create narratives. Newsrooms remain too focused on one-way transmission;

-communities not just audiences: Successful content creators cultivate belonging. They do not just report news; they provide a space where followers feel part of something bigger; and

-diversified monetisation: From merchandise to Patreon, creators embody diversified revenue streams. Publishers should pay attention: Dependency on ads and subscriptions alone is brittle.

Says Wilkinson, “Creators are not the death of journalism. They are its provocation. They show us what audiences value when they have infinite choice: authenticity, relatability, responsiveness, and trust.”

With thanks to INMA – see the full report here