On Wednesday, we spent the day at the US Capitol where Senate Democrats hosted their first-ever creator summit.
The full-day event, which gathered just under 100 creators, independent journalists and other creator economy insiders, came as Democrats have acknowledged they’re behind compared to Republicans when it comes to working with influencers.
During the 2024 presidential election, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said his colleagues were running to CNN and other cable networks “thinking they were communicating.” But Booker said young men, for example, get most of their news and information from podcasts.
“We weren’t showing up where the people were and then we were getting upset that they weren’t aware of the issues that we were fighting for,” he told attendees.
The summit was hosted by the Senate Democrats’ Strategic Communications Committee, which is chaired by Booker. Minnesota Senator Tina Smith is the vice chair. It’s also part of a larger effort by the SCC to encourage Senate Democrats to become more active on social media themselves.
Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jon Ossoff also dropped by to say a few words and take photos with attendees. The event took place in the historic Kennedy Caucus Room, opened in 1909, which has been the stage for major Senate investigations, including the sinking of the Titanic, Pearl Harbor and Watergate.
Senators framed the effort as being pro-democracy, rather than pro-Democrat. “It’s not about party,” Smith said, describing social media and creators as some of the most important tools in the pro-democracy movement.
The call for unity was clear. But the unwillingness of Democrats to position their efforts as partisan is emblematic of why the left has struggled to recreate the success of Republicans on social and with new media. Right-wing influencers and politicians aren’t afraid of drawing hard lines or saying things that will offend others, while the left is more likely to tread carefully. One exception is California Governor Gavin Newsom, who frequently uses social media to troll and parody President Trump.
The event also demonstrated how much the news and media landscape has shifted. Former CNN anchor turned independent journalist Don Lemon, who was recently arrested for filming ICE protesters in a Minnesota church, addressed this in his speech.
“I was at the top of the cable news chain. This is a completely different era,” Lemon told attendees, saying he’s shifted his new independent show to be less like cable TV by recording it at his home with his dogs in the background.
“People want to get information from people they trust [and] like and with as few filters as possible,” he said.
That includes online personalities who are neither journalists nor political creators. Some attendees were even hesitant to call themselves creators despite having social media followings. One attendee, for example, works full-time as a doctor but speaks out online about children’s issues.
Booker, on the other hand, wasn’t shy about it.
“I actually think of myself as a creator too,” he told us during an interview in his hideaway office in the US Capitol. He also grabbed Jasmine’s phone and took several selfies with us.
Tune into our full conversation with Senator Booker, where we got his take on how Democrats can catch up to Republicans' influencer strategies, what he thinks about social media bans for teens, the new US TikTok and more, publishing as a special episode next week.
In other news…
No, Not Every Journalist Can Just Launch A Substack
After the Washington Post laid off about one-third of its staff last week, there was a lot of online chatter about how these reporters should start their own newsletters or podcasts. While some have and more will, many of them can’t or shouldn’t.
Going independent is risky—and depending on the nature of the reporter’s work, they may find it really hard to earn a sustainable living. Take investigative journalism for example, which takes a lot of time, resources and legal support. That’s challenging to pull off without the support of a big media company.
All independent reporters also have to compete in a crowded field of newsletters for people’s time, attention and money, as well as ad dollars.
Last year, at The Information’s “Future of Influence” event hosted by Kaya, Substack CEO Chris Best shared that more than 50 creators on the platform earn more than $1 million per year. That’s a huge feat for those creators. But they account for less than 1% of the roughly 50,000 publishers that earn money on Substack, which also include brands and traditional publishers, not just independent voices.
Kaya gives her take on all of this and the risks that come with the rise of news influencers without journalism backgrounds on Thursday’s podcast, embedded below. We also spoke to Brian Albert, managing director of YouTube media partnerships and creative works, about the company’s plans for NewFronts, why it isn’t planning to return to original content, and more.
Regulatory Woes
Instagram head Adam Mosseri on Wednesday testified that social media is not “clinically addictive,” as part of a landmark case about tech addiction.
Texas filed a lawsuit against Snap for failing to “adequately warn” parents and users about “inappropriate material” on Snapchat, as well as its “addictive” design. Snap did not immediately provide a comment.
💸Money Matters
MrBeast’s holding company acquired Step, a financial app that markets itself as a way to help teens and young adults build credit, invest and save. The app is backed by fintech giant Stripe, VC firms and celebrities and creators like Charli D’Amelio, Josh Richards and Will Smith. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition follows other moves by MrBeast into fintech, including filing a trademark for “MrBeast Financial.”
Tax season is now in full swing. Tax preparation company H&R Block launched Creator Suite, a customized tax filing platform for content creators. Taxes have been a major pain point for many creators.
Deals, Deals, Deals
Propagate Content raised $50 million in funding from Ares Management, which it will use to expand creator-focused content. The company produces shows including cooking competition series “Chopped” and “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” which follows a group of TikTok-famous moms. The company—co-founded by Ben Silverman, the executive producer of “The Office”—also owns talent management firms including Select Management Group and Authentic.
Red Seat Ventures acquired Supercast, a subscription platform for podcast creators. Red Seat Ventures was acquired by Fox Corp. last year and is now part of Tubi Media Group. The digital media and podcast company works with independent creators including right-wing personalities like Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson and true crime hosts including Ashley Flowers.
Candle Media, the Blackstone-backed media company that owns brands such as Moonbug and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, sold a majority stake in digital media company ATTN: back to its co-founders Matthew Segal and Jarrett Moreno, Axios reported.
Snapchat partnered with Gucci on its first sponsored AI lens with a luxury brand.
Sports Desk
The NBA is tapping more than 200 creators for its All-Star weekend events in Los Angeles this week. It’s the latest sports league to turn to creators as it tries to reach younger audiences.
Publicis Groupe launched Influential Sports, a new division to connect brands with sports fans. The holding company acquired influencer marketing firm Influential in 2024.
Creator Moves
Amelia Dimoldenberg, the host of YouTube show “Chicken Shop Date,” is developing and will star in a romantic comedy for Amazon MGM Studios’ Orion Pictures.
Jake Shane will make his Broadway debut on Feb. 17 in “All Out: Comedy About Ambition.” He’s the latest social media creator to appear on Broadway, following Whitney Leavitt, Dylan Mulvaney and Abigail Barlow.
Olivia Ferney, who shows the behind the scenes of her work as a “concierge” for billionaires, is getting a scripted show developed by Fifth Season. Her @travelwithlivii social media channels have about 1.5 million followers.
Matt Friend, a creator known for his comedic impressions of celebrities and politicians, will host the Oscars’ red carpet show for “Live With Kelly and Mark.” He’ll also join Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ broadcast the next morning to recap the event’s top moments.
Abby Wambach, the former professional soccer player, is the latest to announce she’s leaving talent agency Wasserman. This follows founder Casey Wasserman’s correspondences in the Epstein files. Last month, Wasserman said he is “terribly sorry for having any association with either of them,” referring to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Talent Tracker
Whitney Glassberg is now leading studio partnerships at OpenAI, where she will work with film and TV studios, creatives and other partners. Previously, she was Meta’s director of public figure and entertainment creator partnerships.
Dakota Rae Lowe joined Nordstrom as head of brand social and influencer. Before that, she was vice president of social strategy at Edelman.
Bryon LaBumbard was promoted to senior vice president of podcast partnerships at Vox Media.
Marina Mansour was promoted to president of beauty, wellness and luxury at influencer marketing firm Kyra. She started at the company more than eight years ago focused on fashion and beauty.
