"Reporters, columnists, etc, have all made the jump into Substacks, Beehiivs, any form of newsletter or other direct communication. Add to this the knowledge that influencers are becoming more trusted (as other media brands hit rock bottom trust). There are a lot of amazing people working on the creator phenomena, but that isn't what this prediction is about. It's the small act, the small organization that actually doesn't have goals of becoming huge who will come to the forefront in 2026."
"Expand from your neighborhood, to your town, to your metropolitan, to your state. The success metric is measured in "how many" (whether that's viewers, clicks or elsewise). But what if we stop trying to get bigger? Over the course of the last year and change as a consultant, I've worked with news organizations that are launching, or struggling to redefine what "growth" means to them."
During 2025 many journalists, columnists, and creators left legacy outlets to launch independent newsletters and direct channels on platforms like Substack and Beehiiv. Influencers gained credibility as traditional media brands lost trust among audiences. Funding and newsroom culture long prioritized scale and metrics measured by audience size, clicks, and geographic expansion. A shift toward small, non-scaling acts emphasizes community defined by identity, shared experience, and history rather than geography alone. Hyperlocal strategies failed when they treated community as purely geographic. News consumers increasingly rely on solo creators and niche accounts for targeted, trusted information, prompting news organizations to reconsider what growth and success mean.
Read at Nieman Lab
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