Creators understand what many newsrooms still struggle with: People want to learn from experts, but they also want to experience things alongside them. Audiences want to feel connected to the person, not just consume their content.
Our initial collaboration with creator Shawn Singh emphasized the importance of this connection. Our team at the Houston Chronicle continued to partner with him to create social videos about our latest Top 100 Restaurants list, as he eats his way through the top-ranked restaurants with restaurant critic Bao Ong. Building social content around the list is a callback to what initially set us on this path to experimenting with creators. We’re also exploring potential partnerships with other influencers who specialize in different topics and align with us on shared values and mission.
Working with Shawn also taught us something about building genuine relationships with audiences. Our journalists already have what people crave: deep knowledge, trusted relationships and years of reporting in communities most people never see. We just need to think differently about how we share that expertise. If we want to connect with new and younger audiences, we have to go beyond the article.
We tested this with guided food tours through Houston’s Asiatown, where Bao led small groups through three stops: Nam Giao, Cajun Kitchen and ECK Bakery. Bao curated a menu so people could try dishes they probably wouldn’t order on their own. As they ate, he explained the cultural context behind each dish and interviewed the chefs, who shared stories about how they source ingredients and connect with Houston’s communities.
We ran the tour first as an Instagram giveaway to test demand, then again as a paid experience. The feedback was clear: People didn’t just want good food. They wanted Bao’s expertise guiding them through it. They wanted to hear directly from the chefs. They wanted someone who understood the Houston food scene to give them access and context they couldn’t get anywhere else.
That’s the model we’re working to build on in the year ahead. Our journalists aren’t just writers. They’re guides who can create experiences around their expertise. Video becomes a way to bring people into our expertise, not just an off-platform box to check. And in-person events become opportunities for audiences to connect with our team in ways that go deeper than a byline.
— Alejandra Matos, Houston Chronicle managing editor of audience and content strategy
TRY IT OUT
As we experimented with creators, we realized there were more ways we could adapt the creator mindset in our newsroom as a way to better engage or reach new audiences. These are things anyone can try, even if you don’t have a budget to engage with external creators.
- Put real faces in front of the camera. Creators succeed because people connect with individuals, not brands. We’re leaning into a video strategy where our journalists speak directly to the camera. Let audiences see and hear from the actual reporters doing the work.
- Tip: Training reporters on how to do this is key to getting buy-in!
- Show your reporting process. Transparency builds trust. In our videos with Shawn, we showed audiences how Bao approaches restaurant criticism: that he visits each place three times and pays for his own meals. Bao and Shawn also talked through how he decides what he orders at each restaurant. These “how we did it” videos help audiences understand the value and rigor behind our coverage while connecting them to the expertise in ways a written review can’t.
- Experiment with in-person events across beats. In addition to the food tour, our energy reporter Claire Hao moderated an energy affordability community roundtable where she presented information and resources around the city’s rising utility bills. The idea came out of talking to community leaders who said it was a real need. Think about what your beats could offer. Start small and see what resonates.
- Build relationships even if there are no immediate “returns.” Shawn couldn’t make it to this year’s Top 100 Restaurants event, but we still invited other local food creators. No strings attached, no required posts. Sometimes the value is in cultivating genuine relationships with people who get excited about our work, not in tracking every conversion.
