Publishing in Pursuit of Personality: From Mastering Content to Mastering Creators

The shift: people follow personalities – rather than news brands

Media consumption is evolving at lightning speed. For many,  smartphones and social media are now the windows to the world of  news and entertainment. As a result, social platforms and podcasts have become the fastest-growing sources of news, whilst traditional forms – TV, radio, newspapers and their associated digital sites and apps – are seeing declines a structural shift that challenges traditional media models.

In the United States, 35% of adults now use YouTube for news – surpassing CNN and CBS – and fast approaching Fox News’ reach. Whilst this shift is less pronounced in the UK and Europe, we expect this to grow; the future of information consumption is increasingly social, algorithmic and personality-driven.

For publishers, this presents a new challenge.

Publishers are accustomed to countering the risk of audience erosion and adapting to changing monetisation models from the shift from print to digital; the new challenge is around attracting, nurturing and retaining their journalistic talent. Journalists, presenters and thematic experts are building direct relationships with audiences and have highly engaged social followings via platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Substack. Whilst many traditional news brands have amassed larger social followers on social platforms than individual personalities, major personalities drive higher engagement per video than major news brands.

The response: Embracing Personalities within Publishing

Publishers can adapt by leaning into the trend, and inviting – indeed, nurturing – personalities within their businesses.  Personalities benefit from aggregation, incubation and investment, as evidenced by the new generation of digital-native businesses built around talent.

Players such as Puck, Morning Brew, and The Daily Wire demonstrate that creator personalities value being part of a larger whole, if incentives can be structured so they benefit from upsides, and they can benefit from central infrastructure to improve commercialisation.

Established publishers are experimenting.

Future Plc’s “Collab” initiative, launched in September 2025, connects mid-tier creators with a selected set of trusted editorial brands such as Marie Claire and Who What Wear. At this level, both sides benefit: creators the benefit from association with and amplification by strong established brands, and Future benefits from a new set of authentic voices bringing in new audiences.

There are early signs of success: Collab brands have grown their unique visitors more than non-Collab brands, with Marie Claire and Who What Wear both recording over 40% increases in unique visitors within months of launch – in comparison to non-collab brands showing 0 – 12% growth over the same period.

Learnings can also be drawn from the world of broadcasting. Channel 4’s 4Studio was launched to meet younger audiences where they spend their time: on social platforms. 4Studio is incubating a new set of social-led personalities, and – like Future – this is designed to have mutual benefit.  Channel 4 gives creators professional legitimacy, creative freedom and access to professional production capabilities; whilst the creators improve Channel 4’s reputation and social media proposition, and puts it on the map as a valid part of the creator ecosystem. Its youth-focused brand Channel 4.0 now collaborates with more than 150 emerging creators, and its 46 commissions has led to 220% increase in views.  Alongside this, Channel 4 has improved monetisation through a new deal with YouTube to sell its YouTube advertising which has helped it double YouTube revenues in 2024.

The opportunity:  Adapting the publisher model

While the creator economy poses real challenges for traditional media, publishers who lean into consumer appetite for authentic, individual voices by tapping into this significant talent base will be best placed to succeed. Established publishers still hold defensible advantages can attract creator partnerships: trusted brands, deep editorial expertise, significant scale of cross-platform distribution, established commercial monetisation relationships; training schemes and back-office infrastructure.  These are attractive support and scaffolding to free creators to do what they do best: create.

Publishers have the opportunity to leverage these advantages to remain relevant to personality-led audiences.  Doing this requires a re-evaluation of three major elements of publisher’s strategy:

Consumer proposition: Where and how to play

• Which brands or verticals are best placed to develop a creator-led proposition?
• Should this be an extension of existing brands or a stand-alone venture?
• What’s the right balance between editorial integrity, creator freedom, and brand control?
• How will success be measured – reach, engagement, revenue, brand equity?

Talent attraction: Structuring Incentives

• How to identify, attract, and develop hybrid journalist-creators?
• What deal structure will align incentives – e.g. revenue share vs. equity vs. salary/bonus? How to balance upside for creators and the brand? And how to capture and attribute value from personality led content (especially if it’s off-platform traffic)?
• How can IP ownership and rights be structured to protect both creator and publisher?
• Should the platform be ‘closed’ (ie only specifically recruited creators) or open for any creator to join?
• Culturally, how do you manage creators alongside traditional editorial talent, with different capabilities and expectations?

Operating model: Capabilities, Infrastructure and Governance 

• What does the organization need to look like to set it up to win in the personality era?
• What kind of investments in infrastructure (social, production etc..), and people (research, legal, sales) are required?
• How will audience, data, and commercial systems evolve to capture full value from personality-led content?
• What governance is needed to manage IP, risk and compliance while staying agile?

Publishers that can develop and execute on a strategy to embed personalities into their proposition  will be well-positioned to convert the creator trend from an external disruption into an internal growth engine.

The future belongs to collaborators

The rise of personality-led media does not mark the end of journalism, but instead it an evolution. As audiences seek authenticity and individual voices, the publishers that learn to collaborate rather than compete with creators will be those that sustain both cultural relevance and commercial performance.

Those that fail to adapt risk not only audience erosion but also talent flight, as top journalists and creators seek independence or join emerging aggregator models. By contrast, those who embed creators within their ecosystem can leverage trust, scale and credibility to thrive in the next phase of media’s evolution.

In the pursuit of personality, publishers have a rare opportunity to combine the best of institutional journalism with the dynamism of the creator economy. The winners will be those who act decisively balancing brand integrity with the individuality audiences now value most.

Read our full report below for more insight, or contact one of our experts.