What the evidence shows

This report maps the growing role of independent "news creators" and influencers on social and video platforms across 24 countries (Europe, Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific), using audience-derived data rather than platform-side metrics. It asks who ordinary social media users say they pay attention to for news, distinguishing "news creators" (independent of legacy institutions) from traditional journalists/brands and politicians.

The authors propose a typology of news creators split into "the news" (commentary, news/investigation, explanation, specialism) and "news-adjacent" content (satire/comedy, infotainment, gaming/music, lifestyle).

It combines a global cross-country comparative section (five key findings) with 24 individual country profiles listing top-mentioned individuals, platforms, and news brands.

Key Findings

• Creator impact varies hugely by country: in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, US, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, creators rival or exceed mainstream news brands in attention; in much of Northern Europe and Japan, traditional brands still dominate.

• YouTube is the single most important platform for creators globally (used by 12% of the total online population for news-related creator attention), though Facebook remains dominant in parts of Asia and Africa (e.g., Thailand, Philippines, Kenya).

• Younger social media users (under 35) are more likely to get news from creators (48%) than mainstream media (41%); those 35+ favor mainstream media (44%) over creators (35%).

Stand-out data points

• Attention to news-related creators is roughly 15x higher in Kenya than in the Netherlands based on mention counts.

• 85% of the most-mentioned individuals across the 24 countries are men; Canada's top 15 is 100% male, while the Philippines is the most balanced (46% men, 54% women).

• ~40,000: number of uniquely named individuals identified across the 24-country dataset, illustrating the scale and fragmentation of the creator ecosystem.

Examples of how Understories uses this research

• Accessibility Central theme — "explanation" category creators (Kovy, Herr Anwalt, Abhi and Niyu) exist precisely to make news accessible to younger/non-expert audiences on their preferred platforms.

• Clarity Demonstrates that "explainer" creators (e.g., HugoDécrypte, MrWissen2go) win large youth audiences specifically by simplifying complex news.

• Credibility Report shows growing audience trust in individual creators over institutions in polarized/lower-trust media systems, and flags declining trust in some "infotainment" formats (e.g., criticized for health misinformation) — useful for messaging credibility scoring caveats.

• Beneficence: The report is largely descriptive/structural rather than normative, but it does surface genuine risks (misinformation, partisanship, manipulation) that advocates should be aware of when considering "going where the audience is."

• Justice: Notable equity finding — 85% of top creators are men, and content in many countries skews toward male-dominated political commentary; this is directly relevant to flagging where climate advocacy messaging ecosystems may replicate representation gaps.

— non-exhaustive.

Key quote

“Storytelling must not, like technological progress, become an end in itself” — the author emphasizes the need to link all storytelling to concrete and verifiable systemic changes.

© The Author(s) 2025, Creative Commons "CC BY”.

Last update: 20 August 2026

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