Skip to main content
Online News Association Annual Conference Main banner

Audience Development

How News Creators and Digital Newsrooms Approach Social-First Audience Building in 2025 (Invite Only)

How News Creators and Digital Newsrooms Approach Social-First Audience Building in 2025 (Invite Only; at capacity)

Thursday, September 11, 2025
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM CDT

This breakfast hosted by 
Social media’s role in audience development for publishers is changing fast. Traditional news publishers are rethinking how they connect with audiences, while news creators and independent journalists are building loyal followings by blending reporting with personality and authenticity.

In this breakfast session, Sophie Rosenbaum, Head of Digital Strategy and Operations at the Associated Press, and Ryan Y Kellett, Nieman-Berkman Fellow at Harvard University, will discuss the changing role of social media in audience development for publishers, and what they can learn from the “new journalists” driving success across these platforms.

You will learn more about:

  • What success looks like in social media audience development today, and which metrics matter beyond follower counts

  • What creator journalists are doing differently, and what traditional newsrooms can learn from their playbooks

  • How to build brand loyalty and community in ways that resonate with modern social audiences


This event is by invitation only and is at capacity.

This session is designed for::

  • Audience editors who are looking to understand what’s working across different social platforms to build an engaged audience
  • Social strategists thinking about the changing rules of engagement as new voices and platforms emerge
  • Executives interested in the power of social as a distribution channel