Where people get their news in 2026 and the rise of digital
To meet this media moment, our progressive and climate movements need to invest in creator and influencer partnerships to reach new audiences. Social media has taken the top spot as the U.S.’ primary news source, often through short-form video content. This makes sense given that the traditional media landscape has been in decline for decades and the average person in the U.S. has low literacy skills. Emerging from this accessibility gap are new media ecosystems. Mistrust and polarization are on the rise, so audiences are increasingly connecting with figures they resonate with and are emotionally appealing. The danger is that, according to Media Matters, 83% of popular online shows and creators are right-leaning, and our movements aren’t keeping up.
Audiences are craving authenticity and real humans to speak to their interests. Breaking away from organization-driven shareouts is crucial for water and climate organizations to break through the scroll and algorithm. We have seen time and time again that partnering with creators will not just generate views and brand reach, but also inspire deeper engagement.
That’s why for years, we have developed relationships with online creators to tell stories about how water issues impact people’s daily lives. For example, we’ve partnered with creators to highlight local nature-based flood solutions and uplift our partners at Bayou City Waterkeeper doing work in Texas, to educate people about historic Inflation Reduction Act climate funds, and to support the Line 3 oil pipeline fight.
We’ve also produced resources for other organizations interested in doing this work, such as our Influencer Engagement Guide and a webinar on how to work with creators with Climate Advocacy Lab and Isaias Hernandez (@queerbrownvegan)
Supporting American Rivers’ Most Endangered Rivers creator campaign
This year, we managed influencer engagement for American Rivers’ annual Most Endangered Rivers Campaign, which spotlights 10 rivers across the U.S. at the crossroads. The campaign highlights ongoing threats to the river, uplifts local partners, offers alternative solutions, and urges people to take action.
Our goals for the creator activations were to:
- Practice video storytelling through trusted messengers
- Drive petition signatures
- Connect more people to river issues beyond American Rivers’ accounts
We built the creator strategy, drafted messaging, led outreach, and managed creative production, all while liaising with our partners at American Rivers for feedback and approvals to build energy around their Most Endangered Rivers Campaign.
Our content strategy, research, and creative process
To tell the story, we partnered with three creators to connect people to the Potomac River, the San Joaquin River, and the Nissequogue River. We intentionally selected creators with roots in the regions to reach local audiences.
Hot tip: Host shared space for creators to learn more about your issue and to brainstorm ahead of a project.
Ahead of the campaign launch, we hosted a kickoff call with our creator team, Evan Woodard (@salvagearc) for the Potomac River, Kristy Drutman (@browngirlgreen) for the Nissequogue River, and Michelle Fullner (@goldenstatenaturalist) for the San Joaquin River to cultivate trust and build excitement between the creators and American Rivers.
Each creator posted three videos to tell a story arc for the rivers over the campaign. The first video served as an unofficial teaser of the campaign to come. The official announcement for Most Endangered Rivers came next, explaining local threats to the rivers such as data center construction, mining, and dams, uplifting the calls to action. The final video shined a light on partner solutions in progress, except the Potomac River, which featured a recent sewage spill as another threat to drive people to action.
Hot tip: Give storytellers creative license to have freedom to use their own words and visual style. Instead, during content review, we focused on messaging and fact-checking.
Campaign results
Overall, the videos racked up over 260,000 organic views, 22,000 engagements, and 1,100 petition signatures.
Our analysis surfaced how catchy the content was with high shares and reposts. Plus, high save counts showed us people planned to come back to the videos again. A big takeaway? Creator activations tied to organizing moments help build momentum with new audiences rooted in place, particularly when tied to a timely, concrete threat.
Diving deeper into the comments, we saw real conversation and action around active policy decisions. Audiences in California’s Central Valley shared their love for the river and united around opposing mining threats, residents near the Nissequogue River debated the dam rebuild, and Potomac River audiences rooted for data center accountability. These videos created forums for communities to discuss local issues, their experiences, and to further connect with their rivers.
Even months after launch, the videos continue to reach people and garner more views and engagement, unlike traditional social media ads. This is another strong reason to invest in authentic community-builders instead of Big Tech advertising schemes.
What I learned
While I have worked on influencer strategy and engagement during my time at Justice Outside, focusing on nanoinfluencers (influencers with less than 5,000 followers), the scale of this campaign was new to me. It opened my eyes to just how much work, planning, and organization a campaign like this required. While our Digital Director, Jessica, handled the personal outreach, details, strategy, and oversaw it all from the high level down to the little hiccups (a pleasure for my Capricorn heart to witness!), our Communications Manager, Zakiyaa, and I were there to support with research, contracts, invoicing, data collection, and brainstorming. Through it all, I learned just how much personal relationship building and trust matter.
Something that rose to the top was how, while we developed messaging guidelines and established calls to action, it was key we trusted influencers to lean into their styles and audiences. Michelle went on-site to shoot her San Joaquin River videos. Evan used green screens and his characteristic microphone in-hand to deliver the campaign message for the Potomac River. On the Nissequogue, Kristy used footage and stickers on screen to speak directly to her followers. This leaned into the creators’ built-in audience trust and their unique creative approaches.
Working on a project like this for American Rivers’ Most Endangered Rivers Campaign was a valuable experience highlighting the role creator engagement has in our movement. We are grateful to American Rivers for taking that leap with us!
What's next?
If you’re interested in working with us for creator partnerships and opportunities, we’d love to talk!
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