Public Relations, Politics, And The Rise Of The News Influencer

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 11/17/2025) Younger generations are increasingly getting their news from news influencers on various social media channels, according to the Pew Research Center and Reuters Institute, which is pushing public relations into more complex territory.

Pew defines a news influencer in its Nov. 4 report as individuals with a large following on social media that often post about news, politics or social issues. There are 38 percent of people aged 18 to 29 who say they get their information from news influencers, with no differentiation between political parties.

"It's becoming a prominent and more prevalent tactic that public affairs, PR firms and marketing firms can do to reach people who are not turning to traditional news sources," said Matt Resch, founder of Resch Strategies.

Resch said getting a message out through a news influencer isn't all that different from the PR prospective than sending out a press release and dealing with reporters, because the message may not come out as intended, but trying to identify those that are trustworthy and honest is a good start.

"You always have to be very careful about who you're trusting with your brand, and your message with it," he said.

He said it can be a high-risk game, but it is a matter of selecting people you trust, because in the wrong hands the information can be damaging.

"There's not a lot of recourse to get to stop them. It's not like you can go to the editor or the publisher and say what this person is doing isn't honest. It's not right, and in a lot of cases, the more you argue with them, the stronger they get and the bigger reach they get. So it's a frustration," he said.

He said it takes confidence and discipline to wrest your message back from an influencer, but it also requires looking at the bigger picture to see if what is going on with your brand is being damaged in the first place.

"It takes a lot of discipline to be able to step back and say, 'Yeah, this is annoying, and I wish this person would shut up,' but it's not impacting us. They're not talking to our people," he said.

He said the very nature of social media and influencers blunts the impact on messages, because it lasts seconds and the next thing will be coming in minutes.

Resch said no one likes to hear bad things about them, but sometimes the best strategy is to wait it out and if there is something impacting the brand directly, those are the people who need to hear from you and disregard the rest of the noise.

"Don't engage in the bigger mass of sound. Focus on talking directly to the people who matter to you most, and make sure they have the facts so that if they hear something through an influencer or online, that they know the truth," he said.

There are 21 percent of all adults that get their information from news influencers, from YouTubers, TikTokkers and podcasters. The Reuters Institute found they are increasingly male and increasingly not journalistic in their approach to the news.

Matt Friedman, co-founder of Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications, said this is, primarily, a national phenomenon, and pointed to the Democratic Convention in Chicago that had an influencer area opened up.

"Day to day, though, in PR, it's not overtly much of a factor, but implicitly, it's significant," Friedman said.

He said many of the news influencers are getting their news from the news and that is why it is important to make sure things are getting reported on accurately.

"Once they are reported, we don't know how they're going to permeate into public consciousness and these influencers, along with everybody who has any sort of communications tool in their hands or pockets, helps shape that reputation," he said.

He said that has put more pressure on PR firms for accuracy and making sure that the story being amplified by the news influencers is accurate.

"It's so important for the story to be right from the get-go, because it travels in so many different directions, over so many hills and through so many valleys sometimes before it gets to the consumer," Friedman said.

He said news influencers have also opened up another avenue for attacks. He pointed to a rumor about a client that was starting to spread because of an influencer.

He said when dealing with those situations that come up, that it wasn't a crisis situation, but used some of the crisis tools to quash it quickly.

"If you tried to explain that situation to me five years ago, it wouldn't have necessarily added up. Some random person who doesn't even use their real name has a following big enough to potentially affect somebody else's business? The answer is yes," he said.

He said news influencers have made his job more "complex" from the tried and true method of releasing something to journalists.

"Now news can come from any direction," he said.

He said the messages spread by news influencers also spread quicker than they have in the past and even if something is removed, it still has the potential for damage.

He said he wasn't sure if government was always equipped to take on those damaging aspects that need to be looked at and those that don't.

"It's easy to ignore and say, 'Nobody's paying attention,' but I think each of these things has to be assessed based on its own potential impact," he said.

He also pointed to the "fun house mirror" effect as being an inverse of just ignoring a problem and agreed with Resch about not taking seriously something that isn't affecting the people you are talking to or trying to reach.

Harbor Strategic CEO John Sellek pointed to Joe Rogan, a news influencer, who ended up having an impact on the 2024 election after President Donald Trump appeared on his podcast and Kamala Harris debated the merits of going, but never appeared.

"The fact that they spent so long publicly having this conversation about whether she should be on there or not, told us she needed to be on there, especially when you were trying to get male votes," Sellek said.

He also said getting issues, legislation or candidates, being championed by PR firms would need to be put in front of the people who will support it and will trust the message that is being laid out. He pointed to conservative-leaning Republicans being more trusting of podcasters than legacy media organizations.

"For some reason, maybe because it feels more personal and intimate. Podcasts and social media influencers feel more like you're talking to a real person than an AP byline. So whether those people are worthy of your trust is a different question," he said.

He said PR can use all their skills to get a perfectly written AP story and the people they are targeting would never believe it because of the messenger. He said getting the same information out on multiple platforms is complicated.

He pointed to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's activity on social media, like TikTok, Instagram, podcasts and talking with YouTubers like Caleb Hammer.

"First of all, have a team that understands who all the correct places are to go, be able to prepare and understand and know and handle those without stepping on a landmine," he said.

Sellek said going everywhere and doing everything includes talking with the other side and going to where the people are watching.

"Governor Whitmer is even showing us that at the highest levels of politics, if you're going to be in the public sphere somewhere, you're going to go to all these different podcasts and influencers, even if every once in a while, you're going to do something that kind of stings, like the Dorito," he said.

He said natural and authentic voices end up standing out, with performance being rewarded.

He said the video component has become invaluable, and even the podcasts are adding video.

"They're all adding a video component because now they know they have to, and it's not just to be on YouTube. It's just because people are going to watch and see it on their phone," he said.

He said the 2026 election could see more news influencers being used by campaigns, but said there aren't a lot that are exclusively Michigan based, such as Distill Social or the Michigan Enjoyer.

"While news influencers can go viral and grow themselves, the single greatest factor in their ability to impact the 2026 elections is cold hard cash. The investors and donors who want to fund a scalable effort," Sellek said.

While the news influencers will be raising their profile, he said campaigns still need to go to the legacy media and the people who read news straight from the source.

"Those people vote the most," he said.