What it’s like to be a content creator at the DNC
New faces are mingling among the party faithful and the swarm of journalists at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week. And they’re probably more recognizable on social media than inside the Beltway.
This year, in a bid to reach younger, more online voters, the DNC invited 200 content creators to cover the convention.
One of them is Malynda Hale, who’s been sharing her experience with her more than 50,000 followers on Instagram. Creators like her, she said, have their own part to play at the event.
Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino checked in with Hale about how the convention is going. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Malynda Hale: It’s been great. It’s been a whirlwind of an experience, that’s for sure. You know, this has been the first year that creators and influencers have been invited to be a part of the madness. So, it’s been interesting to see how they’ve included us with traditional media, being able to cover the DNC from our perspectives and sharing our experience with our audiences.
Meghan McCarty Carino: How do you see your role at the DNC?
Hale: I think our specific role as creators is to be the connector to the demographic that [the Harris-Walz campaign is] trying to reach. I still watch traditional media, but there’s a lot of the younger generation that goes to influencers and creators to hear their perspectives and to hear what’s happening in the world. A lot of people immediately go to TikTok to get their news. So, if we can be kind of the through line to that generation to talk to them about the issues that are happening, to get them emboldened to vote, to get them excited about getting involved in politics and issues, I think it’s really, really smart to utilize creators and their following to try to get certain messaging out.
McCarty Carino: Have you noticed many differences or similarities in terms of how things have been set up for creators like you versus traditional media?
Hale: Yeah, there are a few differences. We don’t really have access to the floor of the arena because, of course, we haven’t paid our dues to be there. This is a new thing and traditional media is still traditional media. That is where certain generations will go to see the news, to watch the convention. I think with creators, they’re wanting us to just show, like, the real-time action and our experience and viewpoint for the convention. But you know, we have a creators lounge. We have certain access to different areas of the arena, caucus meetings, council meetings. There are over 200 off-site events the creators are invited to. Some are specifically for creators as well. So, it was actually a lot to kind of sift through and figure out the scheduling for the day because there were a lot of opportunities.
McCarty Carino: Have you noticed any specific kind of messaging that has been aimed at you from official channels as a creator? Messaging that is distinct compared to traditional media?
Hale: I don’t think there’s anything different, necessarily, but we did get a list of talking points and policy points that Kamala Harris and her administration will be focusing on. So, they did encourage us, even though they put no restrictions on us, to focus our content on women’s reproductive rights, to focus on LGBTQ rights, to focus on being against Project 2025. So, they’re really encouraging that messaging for creators to get the word out about what the positives are with her administration, but also what we’re up against with Project 2025.
McCarty Carino: Clearly, the sort of delineation between traditional media and the creator media is blurring a lot. What do you make of that?
Hale: I’m not surprised, honestly, because we’re in such a digital age, everyone’s on their phone at all times so they’re going to start looking at people that have been building their followings. But I think that there’s a way to combine the two. I think it’d be smart for traditional media to team up with some of these creator influencers and have them be a spokesperson for them, and use the social media platform that they have and connect the two in that way. I don’t think it has to be a one or the other. I’m like, “Hey, how can this be merged together?” So, I can see how traditional media might start to feel like they’re being pushed out, and how now creator influencers are feeling a little bit more pressure with the content that they’re making, but I think that there’s a happy medium for the two to be merged together.
McCarty Carino: And the DNC has not only invited creators to cover the convention, but there are also some that are speaking at the convention, which is kind of elevating these new faces of the Democratic Party. What does that signal to you?
Hale: I think it means that we have voices that need to be heard and voices that they’re respecting. I think it’s, again, another way to connect with the demographics they’re trying to reach. So, I think it’s a really smart move to have certain influencers and creators and people of the younger generation speak because you’re speaking the language of people that may not necessarily have been involved in politics or may not go to TikTok to hear serious issues, but then they see someone that they follow doing something fun. Because there’s a bunch of different types of influencers here. Not all of the influencers here do politics or do social justice. There are food influencers here. There are beauty influencers here, but if you can show those audiences like “This is important to me as well,” they might start to take an interest.
McCarty Carino: And what’s your sense about sort of how much that is breaking through to audiences online?
Hale: I think it’s breaking through quite a bit. I mean, all eyes have been on influencers at the DNC this year. I think we’re making a huge impact. And the amount of content being pushed out is very diverse, which I think is also very smart of them to invite so many different types of influencers because our mediums and how we engage with our audiences is very different, so we’re sharing in our authentic ways.
Hale mentioned that creators don’t quite have the access that traditional journalists do when it comes to the convention floor, but it seems like they do have better perks.
Wired reports on yacht parties, free wine and prime rib sandwiches available to creators, not to mention four dedicated lounges, while some traditional journalists have complained they can’t find anywhere to sit or plug in their laptops.
The Joe Biden campaign too had courted creators, as we discussed with Taylor Lorenz of The Washington Post last month. But the relationship became strained this year, with creators who had criticized the Biden administration complaining that they were iced out.
The vibes seem to have turned around with the Harris campaign. But as Politico reports, it’s an open question whether the “meme magic” can last.
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