Léna Situations that invite Rihanna: influencers better than journalists?

A few days ago, influencer Léna Situations created an event by hosting singer Rihanna on her “Couch” podcast. She also announced one of her next guests: Kim Kardashian. Are influencers taking the place of journalists?

Few journalists can boast of having interviewed Rihanna. Léna Situations did it. For around fifteen minutes, she questions the singer about her brand and her aspirations.

Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Pharell Williams and Billie Eilish: all have been on the influencer’s couch. The latter recently announced that she would soon question Kim Kardashian.

The young entrepreneur does not present herself as a journalist, and yet she adopts the codes: microphone, interview, exclusivity, confidences.

Stars are often difficult to interview for a journalist. When the press officers or agents accept (which doesn’t happen often), he only has a few minutes to ask his questions. In her podcast, Léna Situations spends much more time with her guests.

It must be recognized that, for stars, it is comfortable to be received by an influencer. First, this allows them to reach a large audience and a younger audience than that of traditional media.

Above all, it is simpler and less risky. A journalist does not serve the person he is interviewing. He is capable of causing difficulty, of challenging, of bouncing back, something that we observe much less among influencers, who are there to entertain and not to inform.

Several professionals in the media world regret that the lines are being blurred between influencers, paid by advertising and communication, and journalists, paid by editorial staff to inform the public.

In his book Be young and shut upjournalist Salomé Saqué explains that young people want to identify with the people they watch and listen to.

They trust influencers more because they look like them, speak the same language as them, unlike traditional media which seems out of reach. According to her, the media must question themselves.

This blurred boundary can be dangerous. For example, in the United States, content creators, self-proclaimed journalists, use their position to convey radical right or conspiracy stories, without respecting ethics.