The Washington Post Launches New Dedicated Creator Unit 🗞️

TODAY’S EDITION

The Washington Post announced Creator Network, a new unit led by former Axios Editor in Chief Sara Kehaulani Goo, who will serve as President. It's the publication's third newsroom (alongside News and Opinion) and will focus on creating personality-driven content, supporting independent creators to scale their content, and giving advertisers access to new audiences through creators.

The unit will also be "infusing AI" into everything they do to maximize efficiency and scale, which Goo shared in a LinkedIn video post.

Why It Matters: Like ESPN's recent hiring of Katie Feeney as a Lifestyle and Sports Content Creator, this highlights how legacy outlets are leaning more into creators and new media to adapt to changing content consumption habits.

The urgency becomes clear with the numbers: creator platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are expected to surpass traditional media in ad revenue for the first time this year, while social media has overtaken TV as the top news source for 54% of Americans. A dedicated division for creators makes a lot of sense.

The Creator Network positions The Post to capture advertising dollars flowing to creator platforms while supplementing traditional journalism with social content where audiences are migrating. It's a bridge between traditional media credibility and the creator economy's engagement and revenue potential.

By creating a separate division, The Post can experiment with creator-focused content without potentially compromising its journalistic integrity—a delicate balance that will be interesting to watch.

Key questions remain: What type of creators will it work with? Will creators own what they create? How will they get paid? Let's see how it plays out.

Following a successful kickoff event in May that brought together some of Boston's creator economy community, from creators and marketers to agency pros and entrepreneurs, Courtney Duffy (Head of External Affairs & Strategic Engagement, Patreon) and I are back for round two.

On Tuesday, August 26th (6:00-8:30 PM EDT) at Tia's Waterfront in downtown Boston, we're hosting another mixer for those working or interested in the space to network, share ideas, and discover opportunities.

It's a free event—more details and RSVP here.

Google is rolling out a Preferred Sources feature that will allow users in the US and India to choose the outlets, including news sites and blogs, they want to see featured most prominently in the Top Stories section of Google Search.

After searching for a topic, users can tap a star icon next to the Top Stories section, search for an outlet, and add it as a preferred source. Users will then start to see more articles from these sources displayed in Top Stories when the sources have published new and relevant content related to their search.

Why It Matters: In an increasingly AI-powered search world, where Google's AI Overviews are turning search results into summaries of information, leading to more zero-click searches and a drop in website traffic for many, the addition of Preferred Sources is a response to some of the backlash around that.

By allowing users to add their preferred sources, it gives them more power and influence over Google's algorithm and AI-generated summaries, and more curation over what they see.

This also brings opportunities for creators and publishers to encourage their followers and subscribers to add their outlets as preferred sources so they see more of their content in these increasingly AI-powered search experiences.

If you want to see more content from me in your Google searches, you can add this newsletter and my blog as Preferred Sources.

Dude Perfect and Regal Cinemas announced a partnership bringing Dude Perfect: The Hero Tour documentary to hundreds of theaters this fall. The film will screen across 800 locations in the US, UK, Western Europe, and Australia for a two-week run starting September 26th, featuring tour highlights plus exclusive backstage content.

Why It Matters: Movie theaters are getting creative with live sports, TV premieres, and special content to fill seats as ticket sales remain below pre-pandemic levels. Now they're turning to creators who can draw families out of their homes—bringing passionate communities and new content to theaters.

This gives Dude Perfect supporters who missed their live tour a chance to experience it differently, while continuing their aggressive expansion beyond YouTube into merchandise, brand partnerships, an upcoming theme park, and more.

Creators are already finding TV success, but the big screen might be next. If successful, other theaters and studios may pursue creators—from starring in films like Addison Rae in I Know What You Did Last Summer, to directing them like Danny and Michael Philippou (RackaRacka YouTube channel creators who directed Talk To Me), to bringing original and repackaged content to theaters nationwide.

Facebook announced updates to its Professional Dashboard, including a redesigned interface with simplified navigation and new insights such as 'Popular with your followers.”

Instagram’s Edits added Safe Zones for previewing video element placement, a swipe-to-compare feature for Reels insights, and detailed export progress tracking.

Threads hit 400 million monthly users, a 50 million increase since April, and is now closing in on X's 600 million users

Threads added thread numbering, automatically labeling each post in a sequence with its position (e.g. 1/5, 2/5, etc).

TikTok updated its Community Guidelines with clearer language on misinformation, consolidated regulated goods policies, and more transparency around regional enforcement.

YouTube increased its image limit from five to 10 photos per post across mobile, tablet, and desktop.

YouTube rolled out new call-to-action buttons for Promote campaigns, letting creators use "Book Now," "Get Quote," or "Contact Us" to drive specific actions.

LinkedIn opened access for its Newsletter feature to all members, no longer requiring the 150-follower minimum.

LinkedIn expanded Thought Leader Ads to include event promotion, letting marketers sponsor member posts linking to events.

Amazon launched AI-powered product tagging for Storefronts, automatically detecting relevant products in photos to make them shoppable.

Google Photos added a "Create" tab centralizing its AI-powered creation tools for making GIFs, collages, turning photos into videos, and more.

Patreon and Kajabi each hit the $10 billion milestone for creator payouts. Patreon now boasts 25+ million paid memberships, while Kajabi creators average $190K in earnings.

Stan launched Stanley, an AI content advisor that supports LinkedIn content ideation, thought leadership, and feedback based on a creator's existing content.

Earnings season rundown: CEOs are betting big on the creator economy (Digiday)

From Unilever to Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola, creators were notably mentioned in several recent quarterly earnings calls, showing their growing impact on major businesses and how much attention they have from the C-Suite.

Content creators as cashing in with live events (Fast Company)

Content creator tours like Alex Cooper's Unwell tour and Crime Junkie's podcast tour sold 500% more tickets this year than in 2024, according to StubHub. With cheaper tickets than traditional live events, stops in often-skipped markets, and interactive shows, this trend is expected to accelerate.

Taylor Swift’s chat with the Kelces on ‘New Heights’ marks a milestone moment for podcasts (Associated Press)

Taylor Swift made her first podcast appearance on New Heights, hosted by boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce, in a rare interview that could become one of the most-watched podcast episodes ever.

Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here to receive the next edition directly in your inbox.

Support: If you're getting value and want to support, you can do so in a few ways: share it with a colleague, Buy Me a Coffee, or upgrade to the paid tier.

Stay Connected: For more content and updates, visit my website and follow me on LinkedIn, Threads, and Instagram.

Work With Me: I'm available for consulting, advising, brand partnerships, and speaking. Let's connect here.