Journalists vs Influencers: A Rubicon Crossed — The Question Is, Where to Next?

This week saw a media kerfuffle erupt over the Government’s decision to allow a dozen or so Instagram creators into the Budget lock-up. 

The decision, which as many have noted was a clear political strategy on the part of the government, has generated numerous headlines and media spots, with the general underlying question from journalists seeming to be: 'Wait, can they just do that?'

Co-founder of Women’s Agenda, Angela Priestley, one of the creators invited, summed up the anti-influencer sentiment, writing on Linkedin: “The horror! "Influencers" (many sole operators, podcasters, and independent media outlets) had access to the Budget lockup, alongside dozens of journalists from News Corp & Nine, plus all those reps from special interest groups, lobbyists and consultants who get their advanced readings.”

She then went on to criticise the tone of some of the media coverage which, in her view, included a “condescending piece” in The Australian about Hannah Ferguson. Other creators had harsh words for The Australian Financial Review’s Rear Window column (a part of the newspaper, not generally known for its kind tongue) which also noted the arrival of the "self -obsessed" creators in the lock-up and called the group in a header “social media self-promoters”. 

The Broke Generation’s Emma Edwards responded hours later on Instagram: “Bold of the AFR to call me self obsessed and charge me $64 a month to be able to read the article saying so but ok.” 

Things escalated further yesterday afternoon when The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that Labor had paid for the travel of some, but not all, of the creators to come to Canberra. Now, this revelation is not, in itself, shocking (brands pay for influencers and journalists to travel all the time) but the general rule is that this should be disclosed. 

Then cue further outrage from Ferguson who took to Instagram to declare that her travel wasn’t paid for and accuse the newspaper of not reaching out to her (if true, that would also a no-no).

There are now lots of articles about this moment in media and what this means for journalists, PRs, influencers, all of those of us who live somewhere in between… 

To me, this moment is interesting mainly because of the precedent it sets. This won’t be the last Budget lock-up where creators are invited. Next year if Albo is PM will it be Abbie Chatfield in the room, or what about Friendly Jordies? If Dutton wins will it be Sam Fricker or what about former Deputy PM John Anderson who has quietly built a post retirement career as YouTuber (yes, really) with a following of 722,000 people on his channel?

The other point is for the PR profession. Those of us on the comms side (of which I’m one) have been watching this week's events closely. I’ve already heard of major consumer brands, in the past year, who are prioritising influencers over media for their product or PR launches, in part, because this channel reaches their desired audiences directly but also because of a sense that it is lower risk. This week’s events are likely to drive that comms shift further. 

For journalism, the arrival of creators in the lock-up poses both real competitive and ethical questions. One journalist remarked to me this week: “Surely, they need to be held to the same standards we are?” I replied ok, sure (on disclosure of trips for example, I get you) but what exactly are those standards? It’s not the MEAA Journalist's Conduct of Code; many of them don’t see themselves as journalists.

It’s also not like politicians haven’t long had vehicles to go direct to voters. Keating and Howard used to always go on talk-back radio because it was precisely a medium for that communication. The medium absolutely has changed, but the strategy itself is not new.

Former journalist turned political advisor, Charlotte Mortlock summed up the fracas well in a LinkedIn video, noting the roles of content creators and journalists both have a value, but are also vastly different. As Mortlock says, one cannot, and should not, replace the other.

We should also remember that it's an important part of being "the Fourth Estate" that journalists are required to adhere to clear public standards, be they Codes of Practice, Press Council Principles, or the rules on privacy etc.

Media can and should lean on that. As Crikey’s Cam Wilson rightly argued that there is little point in news orgs complaining about the arrival of influencers in the budget lock-up or on the campaign buses (where they will soon be). Amid the competitive challenge posed by their arrival in the room, he notes media need to lean into their strengths. Wilson summed up this debate writing: “(The) genie's out of the bottle. If you think creators are too fawning — great, that's your competitive advantage. You should be using that to build up your trust with your audience that makes them want to come to you for info about the news instead of a creator.”   

Nic Christensen is the Curator of The Social Hook. He is a former journalist turned corporate affairs specialist who specialises in advising advertising, media and technology companies.

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