The Creator  Press Tour Doesn’t Need Press. What Does This Mean for Journalists

The creator press tour doesn’t need press anymore. And that should concern more people than it currently does.

There was a time when red carpets, junkets and press days belonged to journalists. People trained to ask better questions, pull real answers and actually understand the moment they were documenting. Now those same spaces are being reworked in real time. Not replaced, just… reassigned.

Influencers aren’t just covering culture anymore. They are the access point. And in some cases, the main event.

The shift was gradual but definite, like a darkening sky signaling storms ahead. Influencer-led podcast and self-produced interview series crept up slowly and then all at once, and now journalists find themselves in the eye of the storm with nary a rescue crew in sight. 

All of this is made doubly confusing when you add in that many of the influencers are also celebrities. Content creators are becoming the talent, the talent is becoming the influencers and journalists are left on the sidelines, often forced to abandon their editorial integrity to get a word in edgewise. It’s simply not enough to write and report anymore. You need an online presence, a viral moment, and an industry connection at a minimum to have a chance of getting the same traffic as the influencers who have usurped this space. 

@devourios Quen Blackwell || #quenblackwelledit #quenaissance #quenblackwell #oscars #vanityfair @Quensadilla @quenblackwell ♬ Pyre (STEM synth) – Altitude Music / BMGPM

This is not to discredit the plight of the influencer. Growing and maintaining a following requires such a delicate balance of consistency, creativity, and luck that it’s a lot like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Moreover, having thousands, if not millions, of people commenting on your appearance, relationship and personality day in and day out is a level of psychological torment we don’t yet have the tools to understand fully. 

Some of these creators are also pretty good interviewers and have a knack for making talent feel at ease, likely because they know what it’s like to be on the other side of the interview questions. But when you are a part of a group that is ushering out an entire profession, well, the feedback can get a bit harsh.

These creators catch flak for their looks, personality and now, add in their interview skills, or lack thereof. Bumbling over questions, not knowing their interview subjects, and just seeming generally unprepared are hallmarks of the influencer interview. At least the viral ones. But for certain creators, this awkwardness is partially, if not wholly, manufactured. In fact, professionalism seems to be a dwindling quality on the red carpet and the more awkward and off-putting (in an endearing Jake Shane kind of way) the better.

@looeyforyou The instant regret #jakeshane #edsheeran #regret #instantkarma #funny ♬ original sound – looey

Naturally, when you have such large personalities battling it out on both sides of an interview, there’s not a lot of room for actual substance, and people don’t seem to understand why this is such a big issue.

Just take a look at any of the replies to posts from journalists talking about their dissatisfaction with the rise of influencers on the red carpet. Well-intended but generally misinformed people have adopted this laissez-faire mentality towards journalism, where they view it purely as an extension of influencing. Now, yes, there are clear economic benefits to hiring influencers as interviewers. These creators come with millions of followers and a built-in audience eager to hang on to their every post.

But when these creators take the place of trained reporters who have dedicated large chunks of their lives to preparing for moments like this, a certain level of integrity and intellectual nourishment is lost. Instead of insightful questions grounded in relevant research and thorough preparation, interviews are turning into obvious attempts to secure a viral clip. 

As it goes, though, there is nothing new under the sun, and social media can’t take the total blame for this. Clicks have always been an important metric for the media. Even before the digital era, buzzy headlines and salacious images were regularly used to increase readership. But even back then, there were still large swathes of the population who understood the importance of conscientious reporting.

But now, people are, understandably to a degree, rooting for these creators, and their place on these carpets is being defended with a vigor that is not extended to actual journalists. This has led many journalists to become jaded as they watch their careers effectively turn into popularity contests that they are unfortunately on the losing end of most times. 

The reason so many underestimate the value of the service provided by journalists is similar to the reason reality TV stars have become able to lead the “free” nation. Anti-intellectualism. We are currently living in the “It’s not that deep” era, where it has become normalized to discredit any form of higher thinking. Probing, research, and discourse are being shelved in favor of entertainment and virality. Who cares about thought-provoking, informed questions relevant to the subject material? Certainly not TikTok.

Cultural journalism is an endangered species, and the few conservation efforts we have are being categorized as bitter rants instead of cries for help. People should want to be informed, and the media shouldn’t have to beg to do said informing.  

Cultural indifference and philistinism are so subtle in their spread that by the time you realize you’re caught in their web, you’re too tangled to get out, at least not without a struggle.