When a politician publishes a Facebook post today, a business leader shares an opinion on Linkedin, or a public figure uploads a video to Instagram, the first news reports often appear within minutes. The way the public sphere operates has changed dramatically. A large share of today’s news no longer originates at press conferences or in official statements; it begins on social media. This has led many to conclude that social platforms have taken over the role of the traditional press. The reality is considerably more complex.
Social media has indeed ended newsrooms’ monopoly over access to information. Almost anyone – from politicians and business leaders to civil society organisations – can now reach an audience directly. This has fundamentally reshaped the model that governed public communication for decades. Previously, communication followed an organisation-media-target audience pathway: an organisation formulated its message, the media acted as gatekeeper and decided whether it was newsworthy, and only then was it relayed to the public. That intermediary role is no longer exclusive, and the media are no longer the sole gatekeepers. Social platforms have effectively given organisations their own media channels, enabling them in many cases to address their target audiences directly.
This does not mean that the media have lost their relevance. Quite the opposite. As publishing information has become democratised, the role that only credible editorial work can fulfil has become more valuable.
In the digital age, it is essential to distinguish communication from reputation. Every organisation can communicate about itself, but its reputation is still shaped largely by others. Consider the dozens of dietary supplements that social media algorithms serve us every day. We may look at the advertisement, but then turn to a credible specialist publication to verify the product – or at least its active ingredient. A company can describe itself on its own channels as a market leader, innovative or sustainable. On their own, however, these are corporate claims. When the same claims are examined by a respected business newspaper, covered by a specialist outlet, or placed in context by independent journalists, they begin to build reputation. What an organisation says about itself is not equivalent to what a legitimate news organisation says about it. This distinction has not disappeared in the social media age; if anything, it has become more important than ever.
One of the biggest lessons newsrooms have learned over the past decade is that they can no longer beat social media on speed. When a politician or company executive posts a video or statement, it can reach hundreds of thousands of people within minutes. By the time the first article is published, the information may already have travelled across the public sphere. The nature of the competition has therefore shifted. The key question is no longer who breaks the news first, but who can provide the first credible interpretation. A recent example is Donald Trump’s deluge of communications on the Middle East. Initially, even global stock markets immediately priced in his posts on X. As doubts grew over their reliability, however, analysis from leading financial publications became the more important point of reference for investors.
This is one of professional journalism’s most important forms of added value. The role of newsrooms today extends well beyond passing on information. They need to explain why a claim has emerged at a particular moment, what preceded it, who benefits from keeping the issue on the agenda, what is missing from the story, and what consequences may follow. Algorithms cannot answer these questions; editorial judgement can. On global markets, Trump’s sweeping claims are now increasingly filtered through the analysis of financial journalists.
International research points in the same direction. The Reuters Institute Digital News Report shows year after year that more people encounter news on social media, while trust in professional news organisations remains a decisive factor in finding reliable information. The Edelman Trust Barometer likewise highlights that, in an age of information abundance, credibility has become a competitive advantage in its own right. It has never been easier to speak publicly – and perhaps never harder to be believed.
Politics recognised this shift very quickly. Many major political announcements now appear first on social media and enter newsroom coverage only afterwards. The objective is often not to bypass the media, but to set its agenda. A well-crafted post or video may be enough to put an issue on editors’ radar, after which newsrooms examine it from a range of perspectives.
The same dynamic is visible in corporate communications. A CEO’s Linkedin post – such as those published by Andras Becsei of OTP Bank – can quickly become a national news source, while a poorly worded comment can escalate into a reputational risk within hours. Owned communication channels have undoubtedly become more important, but they are rarely sufficient on their own. In our experience, the strongest communications results are achieved when messages published on owned channels are reinforced by credible editorial coverage. Visibility and credibility are not the same. An organisation can build the former itself; the latter is still shaped to a significant extent by independent media scrutiny.
This matters even more at a time when artificial intelligence is making content production faster and cheaper than ever. The scarce resource will soon no longer be the ability to produce information, but the ability to navigate it credibly. The more content is created, the more valuable verification, interpretation and context become.
Social media, then, has not replaced the press; it has given it a new role. The media may have lost their monopoly over information, but they have retained – and in some respects strengthened – their power to shape reputation. In the media market of the future, the most important players are unlikely to be those who publish information first. They will be those who help audiences understand what it really means. In a world where anyone can publish anything, credible interpretation is becoming one of the public sphere’s most valuable assets.