The rise of news influencers has moved well beyond media industry chatter.
Deborah Turness used her Sir David Nicholas memorial lecture to argue that audiences are shifting away from institutions and towards individuals. Viewers and listeners increasingly follow presenters, correspondents and commentators across YouTube, podcasts, TikTok and Substack rather than staying loyal to a single broadcaster.
For broadcasters, it creates a difficult balance. Established news organisations still carry authority and reach, but audience habits are changing quickly around them.
For brands using Broadcast PR, the shift feels familiar.
The shift from broadcaster to personality
Turness argued that traditional news organisations need a different relationship with their journalists.
Her speech focused heavily on what she called the “connected correspondent”. Journalists building direct relationships with audiences across multiple platforms while still operating within established broadcasters.
She pointed to personalities including Joe Rogan, Piers Morgan and Megyn Kelly alongside newer podcast-led brands like The News Agents and The Rest Is Politics.
The scale is difficult to ignore. Rogan now reaches more than 20 million YouTube subscribers alone. Traditional television audiences continue moving in the opposite direction.
Turness described creator-led journalism as “fast becoming the show”.
What this means for TV and radio PR
The relationship between audience and spokesperson has changed across broadcast media too.
Television producers and radio editors still care about strong stories. They also care about whether somebody can carry an interview naturally once the microphones go live.
That becomes obvious very quickly on radio.
A spokesperson who sounds stiff, over-trained or overloaded with messaging rarely lasts long in live conversation. Audiences can hear it immediately. Producers can too.
The strongest broadcast interviews usually feel informed, calm and conversational. The person sounds like they belong in the discussion rather than visiting it briefly with pre-approved lines.
Why personality increasingly shapes coverage
Turness spoke repeatedly about authenticity and audience trust.
That word gets overused in marketing circles, but her point was sharper than that. Audiences are spending more time with people they feel they know.
Broadcast media has always worked partly like this. Strong presenters and correspondents have shaped audience loyalty for decades across television and radio.
The difference now is that audiences continue following those personalities long after programmes end. A political editor’s podcast audience may become as valuable as their television audience. A journalist’s Substack readership can become part of their wider public profile.
Broadcasters are still working out how much freedom they are willing to give talent inside that environment.
Radio still gives serious subjects room
One part of Turness’ speech kept circling back to direct connection.
Radio still does that better than most formats.
A good radio interview gives people time to explain something properly. There is room for disagreement, hesitation, personality and detail in a way short-form social clips rarely allow.
That remains valuable for brands dealing with subjects that need explanation rather than slogans.
Finance campaigns, health campaigns, consumer issues and public interest stories still tend to perform strongly through speech radio because audiences stay with the discussion longer.
Regional radio continues playing a particular role there. National stories often land harder once they are framed through local impact and local conversation.
The pressure on broadcasters is becoming harder to ignore
Turness described the current moment as more disruptive than the arrival of social media itself.
Part of the concern comes from where advertising money and audience attention are moving. Independent creators, podcasts and YouTube-led journalism now compete directly with traditional broadcasters for both.
She also questioned whether many large broadcasters are still organised around outdated audience assumptions.
Her criticism was blunt at points. Newsrooms continue making decisions through a broadcast-first lens while younger audiences increasingly consume journalism through phones, clips, podcasts and creator-led feeds.
That tension now runs through large parts of the television and radio industry.
What brands should take from it
Broadcast media still carries reach, trust and influence.
The difference is that audiences respond more strongly to people than institutions on their own. Strong spokespeople now carry more weight inside campaigns because viewers and listeners increasingly decide very quickly who they trust.
That applies across television, podcasts, radio interviews and digital video.
The strongest Broadcast PR campaigns tend to understand that before the booking stage even starts.
