The rapid ascent of these \u201cnews creators<\/a>\u201d has worried media outlets. Responding to a survey by the Reuters Institute of Journalism, more than 70% of newsrooms expressed concern<\/a> that such creators are capturing attention away from publishers. This rise has combined with growing numbers chatting with AI to consume news, to create a near existential crisis for journalism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Only a third of the digital newsroom leaders surveyed say they feel confident about the prospects for journalism in 2026. Unfortunately, this is particularly true of climate change reportage, with global coverage falling<\/a> by 14% last year and publications like the Washington Post gutting<\/a> their climate teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Climate organisations and newsrooms can mount a response. They should partner with like-minded news creators, lending legitimacy to both parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the shift is one of trust as well as attention, stressed Arun Venkataraman, Google News Initiative\u2019s global lead of emerging news voices and research. At a February event<\/a> on news in the digital age, he told us that creators are growing in popularity because of their perceived authenticity, transparency and credibility. Audiences, especially young people<\/a>, flock to content made by these individuals because they are perceived to have more transparent intentions than organisations, Venkataraman noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In some Global South countries, creators are already the dominant provider of information today<\/a>. Climate deniers and fossil fuel companies understand and have been leveraging this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2025 analysis<\/a> by Yale Climate Connections found that eight of the ten most popular online shows in the US had spread misinformation about climate change, with some having received heavy investment from fracking billionaires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These methods are not limited to the Global North. Jusper Machogu, a Kenyan farmer with more than 28,000 followers on X, advocates for fossil fuels on the platform, declaring<\/a>: \u201cWe have 99 problems but climate change isn\u2019t one!\u201d The BBC<\/a> reported that he has received thousands of dollars in donations, some of which came from people in Western countries linked to fossil-fuel interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These aren\u2019t isolated right-wing nuts. What has been assiduously built is an entire global ecosystem of online content creators enabling climate delay paid for by fossil fuel companies. There exists a social media infrastructure of misinformation which springs into action around extreme weather events<\/a>, according to a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).<\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2023 investigation<\/a> by DeSmog found instances of more than 100 influencers being paid to promote fossil fuel firms worldwide since 2017, ranging from Filipina \u201cgranfluencer<\/a>\u201d Nora Capistrano Sangalang to British inventor and engineer Colin Furze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of these partnerships focus on the firms\u2019 lower-carbon initiatives, despite them making up a marginal<\/a> amount of total investment. Meanwhile, some of these firms have dropped<\/a> their renewables targets. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the year leading up to the COP30 climate conference in Brazil, DeSmog<\/a> revealed at least 195 influencers posted Instagram content sponsored by 10 of the world\u2019s biggest livestock, fertiliser and food companies. These people have millions of followers collectively. Eva Morel, general secretary of the media think-tank QuotaClimat, told Desmog that the surge of such sponsorships was not surprising, but \u201cthe sheer volume\u2026 is concerning and calls for heightened vigilance from policymakers\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The impact is substantial. A CCDH poll<\/a> found that 43% of adults and 56% of teenagers who reported high use of social media agreed with climate change conspiracies. Is it any wonder that climate denial is on the rise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other end of the information spectrum, traditional climate communicators \u2013 working at sustainable businesses, PR agencies and NGOs \u2013 remain stuck in the same LinkedIn conversations about Scope 3 emissions, or webinars and report launches that only reach each other. It\u2019s clear something needs to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Newsroom consultancy FT Strategies worked with the Google News Initiative and the World Association of News Publishers to produce a report<\/a> on creators, outlining their needs and concerns with the current system they work within. They wanted stronger access to fact-checking tools, as well as clearer guidance on covering news and civic issues. They also spoke about facing financial struggles and uncertainty due to platforms\u2019 unpredictable algorithms impacting the reach and monetisation of their content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are all things that climate communication organisations can provide support for. Experts on such teams have a deep understanding of climate impacts and solutions. Marketing budgets can support creators. The credibility of an organisation can provide vital recognition to creators and their work, and vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By working with a diverse range of creators, climate communicators can break through echo chambers and reach new audiences. NGOs working on agriculture, for instance, could train food creators on how to talk about and reduce the carbon footprint of their recipes. Campaigners working on aviation emissions could work with travel vloggers to write lower-emission itineraries focussed on ground transport. These partnerships could unlock new forms of action from the \u201csilent majority<\/a>\u201d \u2013 people who want more government action on climate change, but have yet to speak up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Newsrooms are well positioned to partner with creators. Surveys show journalists feel displaced<\/a> by creators, and creators feel misunderstood<\/a> by journalists. But the two roles are naturally complementary. The right newsroom-creator partnerships can help journalists reach audiences and rebuild trust, while offering creators the financial and informational support of a newsroom. These can uplift voices producing good work, while raising the bar for the social media space as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organisations that invest in these forms of partnership will receive more than just dynamic, engaging content. They will find their reach amplified beyond the climate bubble, and trust in their work strengthened by the endorsement of a recognisable online face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media tools mean that more voices than ever are clamouring to be heard, and the slow breakdown of legacy media may well continue to create room<\/a> for AI-accelerated, fossil-fuelled, inflammatory misinformation to grow and spread. But partnerships between truth-telling organisations and social media content creators could create and nourish communities online that push for climate action.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n There have been small pilot initiatives<\/a>, but they face up against an enormous volume<\/a> of fossil-fuelled creator content. There is a clear, urgent need for an equivalent creator ecosystem for climate science and solutions. We must start somewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Trust and influence may have already shifted to social media, where fossil fuel interests are backing creators. Climate organisations must catch up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":60133775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[761],"tags":[547,50042420,50042262],"country":[50003615],"class_list":["post-60133756","opinion","type-opinion","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-fossil-fuels","tag-opinion","tag-society","country-world-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe fossil fuel industry has seized on the importance of content creators<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How can climate communicators partner with creators?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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