News creators are filling a void left by mainstream media that has left the younger generation unconvinced and unmoored. So that we can better advise our clients on how to engage and work with this increasingly influential group, Edelman has developed a list of the 100 top news creators, including Mosheh Oinounou of the Instagram feed and podcast Mo News, which we regularly update. We also do this because we see most of our competitors doing paid relationships with “influencers” who become part of their Paid flywheel distribution strategy, exactly contrary to the spirit of the creator in giving an unvarnished interpretation of facts that establishes personal connection and credibility of the content. And we know from the Edelman Trust Barometer that 70 percent of respondents identify as insular, unwilling to trust anyone with different media sources, solutions to societal issues or backgrounds.
Kenny Gold has been in his role as Edelman’s Global Chief Creator Officer for ten weeks. He was attracted to Edelman because of our 26 years of research in trust. He wants to forge a new compact between PR and creator based on three fundamental concepts. First, influence no longer flows top-down; in fact, it is built from the bottom up, with creators as a critical part of fact-finding and truth-telling. Second, the image of a brand or company is built in the public square, argued and settled in the continuing dialogue between interested parties. Third, the creator can be an employee, a CEO, a public official or a journalist (Kyla Scanlon has just signed on at CNN; she has one million followers across TikTok, Instagram and Substack, also a bestselling author).
Here are some of the key characteristics of the top 100 U.S. news creators:
- Frequency of Posting—Just over half publish at least once a day (52 percent).
- Platforms—71 percent are newsletter, 60 percent podcast, 61 percent Instagram, 60 percent X , 55 percent YouTube, 37 percent TikTok.
- Focus Areas—Politics and Government 32 percent, Technology 14 percent, Business and Markets 11 percent, Marketing/Advertising 7 percent, Social Issues 6 percent, Health and Medicine 5 percent, Entertainment 4 percent and Fashion 3 percent.
- Political Stance—For the one third who are in politics, the ideological break is quite even, with slightly more on the left than the right or middle.
- Age—Three quarters are 25-44 years old, only 4 percent under 25.
- Length of Post—Just over half are long form (53 percent) meaning over five minutes, 18 percent are short form under three minutes, the other 30 percent mixed.
- Use of Third-Party Experts—Just over half use guests or outside experts.
- Location—The largest concentration is in NY (34 percent), followed by California (30 percent), Washington, D.C. (12 percent)
- Relationship with Brands—75 percent have a brand connection but largely outside of traditional ad formats. Trust is their key asset, so creators monetize through podcast ads, newsletter sponsorships or speaking fees.
- Modern News Consumption—According to the recent Reuters Institute Digital News Report, 27 percent of respondents said that they get their news from creators.
Edelman will be compiling a global list of news creators for September from key markets including India and the UK. We do this because we observe the “deglobalization of culture” to quote a recent article in The Economist. The magazine asserts, “New technology is pushing the globalization of entertainment in reverse…nine of ten most streamed tracks in Denmark in 2025 were by Danes….96 of the top 100 songs on YouTube Brazil were Brazilian…as streamers push deeper into foreign markets, local subscribers beyond the elites who might have been happy with American fare...nine of ten of the top shows in Japan and Korea are local fare.”
We believe the same holds true for news creators, hence our strategy of local and global. This creator push at Edelman is consistent with our earned-first strategy that differentiates us from the holding companies, with earning trust as the core proposition for brands and corporations alike.
Richard Edelman is CEO.
