Thursday 15th April: What we can learn from creator culture

Good morning! Today's roundup is brought you by Esther.

It's easy to dismiss social media creators and influencers as simply chasing fame, and to assume that they shouldn't be taken seriously. But creators may actually have a lot to teach people working at traditional publishing houses.

The real action with creators is happening within their comments section and private messages. This article points out that popular creators are going far beyond memes and dances and are actually mastering building communities. There are plenty of lessons we can learn from them, both in terms of audience engagement and monetisation.

"Relational media is here to stay, but it's an open question as to how news organizations will adapt," argues columnist Yvonne Leow. "The lesson to internalize...is that people don't need to study or get a job in journalism to get a taste of its power."

Since 2016, The Guardian has operated a US-based philanthropy arm specifically to find financial support for its journalism. It's managed to raise $9 million between April 2020 and 2021, which has helped fund multi-year reporting projects into modern day slavery, human rights around the world, and gender inequality, to name a few.

Using strategic listening approaches and solutions journalism can help to keep tired communities engaged while the COVID-19 news cycle rolls on. Some practical tips from the European Journalism Centre's bootcamps.

This is a forecast for the American ad industry but it's expected that these patterns will be seen elsewhere. The turnaround means that the ad market is recovering faster than it did following the 2008 recession. There's also a lot of optimism around in-person activities as consumers are raring to get back out.

Today's throwback:

We spoke to theguardian.org's director of philanthropic and strategic partnerships Rachel White back in 2018 about how the organisation works to fund independent journalism.

Talking of the Awards, the big day is approaching! It's free to register for a ticket, so why not sign up and have a peek? Wednesday April 21st, 4.30pm BST. See you there...