I’m launching this series because I believe the most useful thing I can do in this newsletter is get out of the way and let the people doing the work speak for themselves.

So from now on, I’ll introduce you regularly to one creator who is navigating the space between legacy journalism and new formats — and ask them the questions our industry needs to be sitting with.

I'm starting with someone whose work perfectly illustrates what I mean when I talk about creator journalism done right. 

Felicitas Paganti is a video journalist with more than seven years of experience, currently working as a social video journalist at The Times in London. Alongside her newsroom role, she creates content on her own channels, runs training and workshops on social video, journalism, and personal branding — and thinks very clearly about what it actually takes to reach young audiences. 

She says: “My goal is to give context around current events so people can understand beyond the headline or breaking news.”

What excites you about your work?

What excites me is what I usually call my “Hannah Montana” job: having two very different creative lives. At The Times, I work on serious journalism, producing, training, and collaborating with correspondents on global stories. On my own platforms, I can be much more experimental, creating explainers and engaging directly with my audience in a more personal way. I like switching between those two spaces because they constantly feed each other.

What’s one thing you’ve figured out about reaching young audiences? 

Young audiences absolutely care about what’s happening in the world, but they don’t necessarily want it delivered in traditional news language or formats. What works is clarity, strong storytelling, and a tone that feels direct and conversational — not simplified, but accessible. 

And what didn’t work?

Early on, I underestimated how structured social content still needs to be. Being “casual” doesn’t mean being unprepared. When you’re your own scriptwriter, producer, editor, and camera operator, it can easily take you a whole day to produce a single video.

If you could change one thing about how legacy newsrooms approach young audiences, what would it be?

I would push for more flexibility in formats and a better understanding of how people actually consume news today (more visual storytelling techniques). But more importantly, it’s about rewriting how we script stories so they sound human, not like written articles read aloud. Young audiences don’t need simplified journalism; they need journalism that informs with context, accuracy, and new formats.

What fact about young audiences does the news industry still get wrong?

I think the biggest misconception is that young people don’t care about news. They do. They’re just highly selective about where, how, and why they engage with it. Another mistake is treating platforms like TikTok as inherently less serious or even unprofessional for journalists. In reality, that’s where a huge part of the public conversation is happening and ignoring it means missing the audience entirely.

Has there ever been a situation where your work at The Times and your own channels pulled in different directions? 

I’m very careful about which videos and topics I’m exposed to at The Times. On my own account, I have full control over what I say and how I say it, but in the newsroom there are editorial guidelines I need to follow. That makes me more intentional about what I choose to be involved in and how I approach each topic. My view of journalism is fundamentally impartial, without personal judgment or opinion, and I try to carry that into all the spaces I work in. I’m very conscious of what I say and the tone I use in each context.

Want to know more about Felicitas Paganti? You can follow her here. 

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