Australian media is undergoing a structural shift. Individual creators, from Substack writers to TikTok and Instagram commentators, are increasingly shaping how the public encounters news and forms views on current events.
Unlike traditional news outlets, these creators typically operate without an editorial board, a formal editing process, or an obligation to present opposing viewpoints. Their reach is built on audiences who follow them directly, rather than through a masthead or broadcaster.
Journalists, publishers and communications professionals are adapting to this shift, often using tools and measurement frameworks that were developed for a different media environment. The change affects how the public forms opinions, how institutions communicate, and how PR teams reach audiences already engaging in conversations outside traditional media channels.
News influencers are individuals who regularly post about current events and civic issues on platforms such as Substack, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and who have built a following large and engaged enough to shape how their audience understands public affairs.
According to the 2026 Digital News Report, 43% of Australian news consumers now get their news from creators or influencers, rising to around 70% among 18 to 24-year-olds and 72% among 25 to 34-year-olds.
Trust data offers one explanation for this trend. The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer identifies "insularity" as the defining condition of public trust worldwide. People are not becoming less interested in information, but are becoming more selective about whose information they accept. Globally, 70% of people report hesitation to trust someone with different values or information sources. In Australia, that figure is 73%.
Trust in major news organisations has fallen 11 points globally since 2024, while trust in family, neighbours and personal networks has risen by the same margin. Edelman's data describes this as a shift in trust away from institutions and toward individuals who feel proximate, familiar and personally relevant.
News influencers operate within this environment. An individual creator with a loyal following can report on a local event and share a perspective directly, without an editorial board, commercial agenda, or publishing brand mediating the content.
The Edelman data also quantifies what this kind of trust can do. About 62% of people who trust an influencer say they would consider trusting a company they previously distrusted if that influencer endorsed it.
However, this trust is conditional. A Griffith University and Sentiment Agency study of the 2025 federal election found 90% of Australians believe creators should always disclose when they are paid or supported by a political party, advocacy group or brand, and 70% support a formal code of ethics for political content creators. This suggests audiences want transparency about who is talking, rather than ambiguity.
According to the 2026 Medianet Australian Media Landscape Report, nearly half of Australian journalists (49%) are either running or seriously considering a move to independent platforms like Substack with podcasts, newsletters and video channels they own outright and monetise directly.
The report also points out that 46% of journalists say the biggest appeal of an independent platform is the ability to have creative freedom. Twenty-nine percent said they are motivated by the direct audience relationship of an independent platform. Only 12% say that the potential for higher income was the biggest appeal.
Another study could support the idea that this shift is linked to new income opportunities in the creator economy, rather than dissatisfaction with the industry alone. Independent journalists with a loyal readership can now build a direct subscription model without legacy media backing. As of 2025, more than 50 individual writers were earning at least US$1 million a year on Substack alone.
This trend also extends to how news organisations operate. Research from the Reuters Institute in 2026 found that 76% of news publishers are now actively encouraging staff journalists to build personal brands and behave more like creators. Publishers appear to be encouraging this shift because audience attention is increasingly tied to individual creators rather than mastheads. But journalists in Australia according to the 2026 Medianet Austrlaian Media Landscape report journalists are themselves divided on what news influencers alone could mean for journalism.
When asked, 41% see them as a threat to the profession, and 26% see them as an opportunity.
With just under half of journalists considering independent platforms and most publishers actively encouraging personal branding, this model is becoming increasingly common across the Australian media industry.
Public relations has traditionally operated around a specific chain of trust: identify the right journalist, craft the right pitch, and let a journalist backed by an institution with editorial credibility publish a story that reaches an audience that trusts the outlet. The brand earns relevance by association. This has changed.
Each part of this process is changing as part of the audience moves toward independent creators, in particular younger ones. When the voices shaping public opinion are influencers without formal editorial obligations, a published code of ethics, or institutional affiliation, it represents a risk for brands.In a media environment where 73% of Australians report distrust of sources outside their immediate information circle, reaching an audience increasingly means earning access to the specific trust networks they are already part of.
The 2026 Medianet Australian Media Landscape Report found that press releases have returned as the primary story source for more than 90% of journalists, largely because they deliver structured, attributable information that solo creators and independent journalists can work with efficiently.
The journalist receiving that release may no longer sit inside a masthead. They might be a newsletter writer with 20,000 loyal subscribers in a specific industry vertical, or a creator whose audience trusts them more than any national publication, which means the message and the format when pitching a story need to adapt too, depending on who's on the receiving end.
Authenticity adds a further consideration. Seventy-eight percent of journalists report that an AI-written pitch decreases their trust in the PR professional behind it, and nearly half say they can identify one on contact. In a media landscape where personal trust plays a central role, an AI-generated pitch can also affect an organisation's reputation with journalists.
Journalists working in traditional outlets might cover one thing completely different from the one they cover on their Substack. This represents opportunities, but it also means further fragmentation of the landscape and less broad spray-and-pray distribution.
Traditional outlets are also adapting by adopting storytelling techniques that influencers dominate, so the pitch perspectives need adapting too.
PR teams now need to consider a broader range of factors beyond a traditional media list, including trust networks, creator relationships and audience reach.
The media industry is going through a transformation at its core. Whether it's news influencers reshaping who Australians trust, journalists building platforms of their own, or AI pitches testing the limits of authenticity, it all points to one thing. A redistribution of trust from institutions to individuals.
According to the 2026 Medianet Australian Media Landscape Report, half of Australian journalists remain optimistic about where the industry is heading, pointing to the growth of independent and hyperlocal outlets as a sign of renewal rather than decline. As one journalist surveyed put it, "local and hyper local media is thriving, and there is a growing trust for community-led, independent news media."
For PR and comms professionals, that optimism matters just as much as the disruption. The fundamentals of good communication haven't gone anywhere. What's changed is where trust now lives, and the teams who adapt to that will be the ones journalists and their audiences keep coming back to.