Four years ago, when I started my PR career, I expected my media lists to overflow with reporters working from bustling newsrooms, well-funded publications with clear editorial hierarchies. This was the picture I had been painted on television when watching shows and movies centered around the media world. Today, my media lists tell a different story: many journalists have been laid off, others have voluntarily left traditional media, and a growing number have reinvented themselves as independent creators on platforms like Substack and through personal newsletters.
This transformation represents a seismic shift in how news is produced, distributed, and consumed. The traditional media landscape that defined journalism for decades is rapidly giving way to a creator-driven economy where individual voices compete directly with institutional brands for audience attention and revenue.
The Numbers Behind the Newsroom Crisis
The statistics paint a stark picture of an industry in freefall. Around 4,000 layoffs across newspaper, broadcast and digital media businesses were publicly announced or reported in 2024 alone, a continuation of a devastating trend. The decline has been relentless and sustained. According to Pew Research Center data, newsroom employment fell 26% from 2008 to 2020, declining to about 85,000 jobs.
The pace of closures is equally alarming. Northwestern University research from 2023 indicates that the nation loses 2.5 newspapers per week—a pace that is accelerating. These aren't just statistics; they represent entire communities losing their local watchdogs and the voices that hold power accountable.
The Rise of the Journalist-Creator
Faced with an industry that seems to be systematically dismantling itself, journalists are taking matters into their own hands. Migration to independent platforms like Substack has become a defining trend. According to Axios, Substack is on track to more than double its politics and news subscribers in 2024, while the number of Substack journalists in news and politics making more than $1 million has doubled over the past year.
This shift represents more than just economic necessity—it's a fundamental reimagining of the relationship between journalists and their audiences. Tech journalists like Alex Konrad, a former senior editor at Forbes who launched Upstarts Media, and Tom Krazit, a former Protocol Enterprise editor who launched Runtime are two notable examples. These journalists are discovering that direct audience relationships can be more sustainable and profitable than traditional employment models. This creative autonomy allows journalists to pursue stories and perspectives that might not align with corporate editorial priorities or advertising concerns.
What This Means for PR
Weekly, my LinkedIn feed is flooded with announcements of newsroom layoffs, voluntary departures, and journalists launching their own ventures. What strikes me most isn't just the volume of these transitions, but the underlying forces driving them: shrinking newsrooms, declining institutional trust, and the realization that journalists can build direct relationships with their audiences without traditional media gatekeepers.
This evolution raises fundamental questions for anyone working in communications and media relations. Where do we find the journalists who once filled newsrooms? More importantly, how do we reach audiences when the media landscape has become so fragmented and personalized? The answers lie in understanding both the crisis that pushed journalism toward this creator model and the opportunities it presents for the future of news.
Looking Ahead
This transformation raises critical questions about the future of journalism itself. As more reporters transition from traditional newsrooms to independent creator platforms, will the same journalistic standards that have defined quality reporting for generations be upheld? The democratization of media creation offers unprecedented opportunities for diverse voices and innovative storytelling, but it also removes many of the institutional safeguards that have traditionally ensured accuracy, fairness, and accountability.
The creator media revolution is reshaping not just how news is produced, but how audiences consume information. As PR professionals, we must adapt to this new landscape where influence is increasingly distributed among individual creators rather than concentrated in traditional media institutions. Success in this environment requires building relationships with journalists-turned-creators who operate with different incentives, timelines, and editorial processes than their traditional counterparts.
The question isn't whether this transformation will continue—it's already well underway. Instead, we must ask how we can support quality journalism in this new ecosystem while adapting our strategies to reach audiences where they actually are: following individual voices they trust rather than institutional brands they once relied upon.
The future of media may be more fragmented and creator-driven, but it also holds the potential to be more diverse, authentic, and directly responsive to audience needs. As this evolution continues, both journalists and the PR professionals who work with them must navigate this brave new world with creativity, integrity, and a commitment to the fundamental values that make journalism essential to democracy.