09/25/2026
Our very own Damian Radcliffe, Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism and SOJC's director of strategic initiatives, recently shared his wisdom about information ecosystems and the creator economy as the keynote speaker at the NWPPA's Northwest Innovations in Communications Conference earlier this week. Check out his key tips below!
A great couple of days in Walla Walla at the Northwest Innovations in Communications Conference, organized by NWPPA.
On Tuesday, I delivered the opening keynote, “How We Get Our News and Information,” followed by a second session on “The Creator Economy.”
Across both talks, the focus was on what changing media habits mean for communicators.
A few of my key takeaways:
• Know your audiences, and don’t assume their media habits look like yours.
• Build direct relationships through channels you control.
• Be ruthlessly useful. Answer the questions people actually have.
• Think like a creator. People connect with people, not just organizations.
• Make your information easy to find, understand and use across multiple channels.
One stat from the room really stood out: 42 of 46 respondents said they follow individuals for news, information or advice outside traditional media and official sources. Yet only 3 of 44 said their organizations currently engage with content creators.
Plenty of opportunity there.
A huge thank you to the NWPPA team for the invitation, and to everyone who joined the sessions for the terrific engagement, questions, and conversations.
Read more: https://medium.com/damian-radcliffe/what-changing-media-habits-mean-for-communicators-563587cf90ba?sharedUserId=damianradcliffe
