Strategy
White House Shake-up Gives Content Creators Front Row Seat
The White House is implementing structural changes to its press briefing operations, creating a dedicated first-row seat for digital content creators and restoring press credentials to hundreds of previously excluded journalists. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the changes during her first briefing on Tuesday, January 28.
The Brady Press Briefing Room will now accommodate “independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators,” marking a shake-up in White House media relations.
As the reason for the change, Leavitt cited recent Gallup polling showing American trust in mass media has reached historic lows, with younger demographics increasingly consuming news through digital channels.
Access and Implementation
The administration plans to reinstate press passes for 440 journalists whose credentials were revoked by the previous administration.
The new policy aims to extend White House access beyond traditional media outlets, reflecting communication strategies used during the 2024 campaign, which included President Donald Trump’s appearances on podcasts hosted by Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and the Nelk Boys.
“It’s essential to our team that we share President Trump’s message everywhere and adapt this White House to the new media landscape in 2025,” Leavitt stated during the briefing.
Despite the emphasis on new media, the first question under the new policy went to Mike Allen, co-founder of Axios, who inquired about DeepSeek and artificial intelligence.
The changes represent the first major restructuring of White House press operations in 2025, aiming to align official communications with shifting media consumption patterns.
In August 2024, the White House’s Office of Digital Strategy hosted its inaugural Creator Economy Conference, bringing together 100 digital content creators and industry professionals to discuss pressing issues in the growing sector. “You are the future. You are the breakthrough in how we communicate,” former President Joe Biden told the influencers at the time.
“We’re seeing the emergence of creators as their own media powerhouses, not only from a brand media mix standpoint but also side by side [with traditional media],” Collective Voice VP of Marketing Clair Sidman said about creators’ media potential in a recent interview with Net Influencer.
The administration emphasized that while opening access to new media platforms, it will continue to engage with legacy media outlets in the briefing room.
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