What do journalists need to know about creating a personal brand in 2026?

We first wrote about personal branding online in 2016. My former colleague Caroline had spoken to professional coaches, university professors, news leaders and even a former BBC technology correspondent about the power of social media platforms to connect journalists with audiences and contacts they'd never otherwise reach. Twitter was still called Twitter, Facebook hadn't yet pulled the rug from beneath the news industry, and we had high hopes for Snapchat.

Developing a personal brand, they all posited, would help journalists build their own reputations and that of their employer. And there were already concerns about the blurring of professional and personal content.

What has really changed in the last 10 years? A lot of the advice still holds: don't post anything on the internet you don't want prospective bosses to see, don't violate your employer's social media policies, maintain a consistent voice across your different platforms.

But does having a personal brand matter for journalists today, and if so, what are the new rules of engagement?

Two key changes: Influencers and AI

I put that question to Steph Spyro, deputy political editor and environment editor at The Daily Express. She runs a TikTok and Instagram account sharing behind-the-scenes tidbits and insights aimed at general audiences, while her Off The Record newsletter, published directly on LinkedIn and Substack, helps PRs and comms folk understand how journalism works. You could put those accounts into two buckets of two - she is making the most of these opportunities.

Both approaches seek to demystify how journalism operates, but for very different audiences and reasons. Both build her brand in different ways, with a shared purpose.

"Personal branding used to mean career development, so things like building your profile, getting your name out there and establishing yourself as an expert in a particular area. Now, it's more about distribution," Spyro explains in an email to JUK.

She cites languishing trust in legacy media and a rise of news influencers as key drivers of the shift. The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026 spells this out clearly: in the UK, 30 per cent say they trust the news most of the time, and six per cent say most, or all they news needs are met by news creators.

"We've also seen these news creators, most of whom aren't trained journalists, build huge audiences by occupying that "influencer" space. Most journalists have been slow to adapt to that change, and I think it’s been to our detriment," she continues.

"Thorough journalism should still be the goal. If a personal platform helps a reporter reach more people, build trust and continue to inform the public, then that’s a win in my book."

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On her split social media publishing approach, Spyro says she is very intentional about the difference. She rarely talks about her journalism on LinkedIn, but that’s what makes up the bulk of her Instagram and TikTok content. After all, that's what people come to those destinations for.

Of course, the other key change in the last decade – or more specifically in the last few years – is the rise of AI-generated content in our feeds. Most people will tell you the AI antidote is 'human content', but the real answer is an unhealthy amount of punctuation and a unique perspective.

"I use a lot of ellipses and exclamation marks! I never use either of those in my journalistic writing, so I make up for it by over-using them everywhere else!" she jokes. We'll allow them this once to demonstrate the point. But this post works as a perfect example:

A quick tip for PRs pitching to the Daily Express: | Steph Spyro

A quick tip for PRs pitching to the Daily Express: The best time to send me a press release is before 8.30am (or ideally the afternoon before). I often get FANTASTIC pitches as late as 3.30pm (!!!) with midnight or 10.30pm embargoes for that same day. Sure, we can often still get a good story in print, but I think it’s more likely to get a better showing if it comes in before our editors have their first news conference of the day at 9am. That meeting is when they start getting an idea of what could go on each page of the paper. They also start deciding how much space to give articles. Every publication will be different but early sight of a press release helps journalists sell the story to editors better (and helps us clarify things well before the editors start asking us questions)! *It’s just happened! It’s 3.30pm and a STRONG story has landed in my inbox with a 00.01am embargo for the 4th of July. Online? No problem. Paper? Errrr. | 24 comments on LinkedIn

LinkedInSteph Spyro

"On a more serious note, there is a very distinct style to my writing. The language is always accessible, and I try never to be condescending or patronising when sharing advice. I do try to write as I speak, so that will inevitably never sound like a faceless AI machine. "

One underrated and one overrated tip

So what do journalists really need to know about brands in 2026 that they didn't know in 2016?

A decade ago, Shahab Anari said:

"Be clear about who will be following you and what your message is, ensure all your social media accounts are consistent with one another, and that you are posting regular updates for your audience."

Half of this is still very much true. It really does matter to be laser-focused on who is following you and to get the messaging really tailored. In a world of influencers and AI to compete with, your USP matters more than ever.

But you can play around with the channel mix and consistency, as different platforms may influence who is following you and what people expect from you. And don't feel you need to be posting constantly, either. Less is very much more.

"The one piece of advice that I think is outdated is that you have to post every day," Spyro explains.

"Don't get me wrong, consistency absolutely helps, but there are journalists who share fantastic, high-quality videos once a week (if that!) who haven’t seen any dip in followers or engagement. Journalists are balancing a lot - reporting, live blogs, writing analysis pieces, recording social media videos for their own outlets on top of content for their personal pages. My advice to them is: do the best you can do."

So, daily posts – overrated. The underrated strategy for every journalist? Don't just share the link to the story, share your expertise. It's journalism 101: show, don't tell.

"If you want people to engage and follow, I think you need to give them something they can’t get by only reading or watching your pieces. That might be explaining how you found a story, something surprising you discovered while reporting it, what people misunderstand about your beat or even how something works behind the scenes."

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This article was originally published on 6 October 2016 and was updated on 11 March 2025 and on 18 September 2026, with significant changes to the structure, lead angle and core interview sources.