The Battle for Red Carpet Real Estate: Content Creators vs. Journalists

Since the Golden Globes this past Sunday, there has been quite the discourse on Threads around Content Creators vs. Journalists on the red carpet. Specifically, should content creators have a place on the carpet especially when they’re inexperienced or lack training.

This controversy all stemmed from sweet Subway Takes host, Kareem Rahma, interviewing actress, writer, director Eva Victor. In the interview she asks if he’s watched her movie to which he cannot respond, because he has not and ultimately has no specific questions about the film. While being a conversationalist is a highly important skill to have on the carpet, one should also be prepped with at least one specific (or generic why the hell not) question to ask any potential person who agrees to speak with you.

Needless to say, this had journalists heated over on Threads and rightfully so, as they have spent years and dollars honing their craft and what I’ve learned in my experience on carpets is that holy smokes is it a craft baby. Not every content creator appreciated being bucketed into the conversation though and it created this back and forth that even had my Meta partners texting me on the side asking me for the tl;dr.

And as someone who is now a content creator, but one that comes with a background in media and communications, who’s moderated countless panels, hosted conference stages, spoken at the White House and comes with a wide variety of interview experience including carpets, I feel qualified to add some context to the discourse.

And for me, it’s really a “both things can be true” situation.

Preparation Would Be Nice!

If brands and creators are in an agreement for a job, the expectation should be that said creators are prepared for their interviews. Brands should give them the access they need to content to be as prepared as possible. In the past, journalists got full binders, screeners, and facesheets in advance for a carpet as big as the Golden Globes. They’d have rehearsals, a dedicated producer and days to prep, sometimes months.

But for creators today, at least in my experience, this expectation has changed. I have been asked on some pretty important carpets and given no screeners, no context, no support. I show up with my little tripod and maybe a friend to assist me but in the words of Taylor Swift, “You’re on Your Own Kid.” Despite all of this or lack thereof, I still feel strongly that the onus should fall on the creators as the hosts to consume that content in some capacity (you can read a reddit or wiki page dolls) and form questions or at the very least a POV on the art. Their success is all of our success and their failure to prepare makes us all look bad.

Evolution is Essential FOR EVERYONE

That being said, it’s time journalists also accept that the hosting, press tour, entertainment ecosystem has changed and I don’t anticipate the pendulum swings back any time soon. So they too need to evolve in their craft, spend the time creators spend building their audience online, make a f*ck ton of content for free as creators do and embrace the changes. Just as everyone expects creators to do in preparation for a red carpet.

And Now For The Data

Listen, I am an insights girly at heart and it’s important to me to make the claims with some data to back it up. The Wall Street Journal recently launched a division called, Talent Lab, where they’re building out an entire team dedicated to coaching and supporting their news anchors on how to show up on social media. Devin Smith was hired to lead the team and shared some interesting stats on her recent Linkedin post:

A few truths that underscore the importance of journalists showing up individually:

1. 76% of U.S. adults aged 18-29 get their news from social media (cc Pew Research Center Young Adults And The Future of News).

2. Young adults are less likely to follow the news, with only 15% of those surveyed by Pew Research Center saying they follow the news all or most of the time.

3. Algorithms favor people over brands.

4. Young adults favor people over brands in their feeds.

To Sum Up

I am aware my suggestions are not a perfect solution. People will be mad, journalists may feel slighted, heck even the content creators who have a background in media and journalism but lack the following of some of these less experienced folks are ticked! But I just don’t see creators leaving the red carpet anytime soon. Especially as more of these big corporations, networks and streamers drive the strategy from the top down. Their main focus is on what works metrics wise, what doesn’t, and most importantly, what will ultimately drive their bottom line.

I believe the best thing we can do is acknowledge there is space for all of us, lean into the strengths of one another’s content, recognize there is a place for different people to speak to different audiences in different ways and help each other out to get there. Because if we keep trying to bring each other’s respective community down, isn’t that kind of the most unprofessional thing of all?