From Gatekeepers to Creators – The New Media Skillset
- Cristine Anderson
- Apr 3
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 14

The media gatekeepers of the past - editors, publishers, broadcast executives - once determined what stories reached the public. Today, thanks to digital tools and social platforms, nearly anyone can be a media creator. That’s both empowering and intimidating.
This shift has dramatically changed what communicators need to succeed. Writing and editing remain foundational, but now creators must also master branding, personal voice, video production, and platform algorithms. Understanding your audience is no longer about demographics alone, it’s about psychographics, engagement patterns, and cultural fluency. Through observations, interviews, and case studies, it argues that attention to audience needs, once viewed as a threat to journalistic integrity, is now considered essential, reshaping newsroom practices, values, and professional identity (Costera Meijer, 2020).
Take MrBeast, for example. With a team of editors, strategists, and brand partners, he’s built an empire on YouTube. A newsletter written by Jack Appleby, a social media creator consultant, unpacks MrBeast’s leaked 36-page production manual, distilling it into actionable tips for marketers, like prioritizing personal excitement, creating viral formats, leveraging spectacle, and being relentlessly audience-focused. By translating MrBeast’s strategies into marketer takeaways, Appleby emphasizes that creativity, product fluency, and social-native thinking, not big budgets, are key to standout content in today's digital media landscape. His success is a masterclass in modern media strategy - leveraging virality, emotional storytelling, and deep platform analytics (Appleby, 2024).
Communicators now need the ability to think like marketers, storytellers, analysts, and entrepreneurs—all at once. Tools like Meta Business Suite or Buffer help streamline the process, but the real skill is in using those tools strategically to build trust, grow a following, and create value.
If you're looking to build these skills yourself, the Meta Blueprint Marketing Certification is a great place to start.
-Cristine
References:
Appleby, J. (2024, September 18). MrBeast’s guide to making great content + how to apply it to brands. Future Social. https://futuresocial.beehiiv.com/p/mr-beasts-how-to-viral
Costera Meijer, I. (2020). Understanding the audience turn in journalism: From Quality Discourse to innovation discourse as anchoring practices 1995–2020. Journalism Studies, 21(16), 2326–2342. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2020.1847681
Comments