I saw an interesting LinkedIn post the other day. It said the only difference between a content creator and a journalist is their willingness to market themselves.
There’s truth in this. Its because journalists are taught to do the opposite. Anyone who has trained to be a journalist will have been told at some point: ‘You are not the story’.
This is really hard to unlearn. However, the tide appears to be turning, and a wave of journalists are proving that it pays to embrace the creator economy.
Trailblazers and game changers
TikTok launched in the UK in 2018, and there were a handful of journalists who saw the very early promise of the platform. But it wasn’t until the pandemic a few years later, when we were all cooped up at home, that it clicked – this platform is excellent for showing the real side of news professionals.
Sophia Smith Galer was one of the true pioneers of the platform for journalism. Whilst at the BBC, she built a strong TikTok account where she talked about her new stories, hobbies and yes, a viral sea shanty video.
