Inside Labor’s plan to cultivate a new generation of political media stars
Social media creators are playing a strong role in the election. They say Labor has been more proactive than the Coalition in trying to reach their audiences.
In the lead-up to the federal election, Labor has moved aggressively to cultivate content creators, social media influencers and podcasters in a bid to reach younger and “low information” voters before polling day.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has already appeared on about a dozen podcasts. Among them is The Rest Is Politics, hosted by Tony Blair’s former communications chief, Alastair Campbell, and former UK Conservative cabinet minister, Rory Stewart.
While long-form conversations with political insiders are bread and butter for a prime minister, Albanese’s appearances on more informal platforms reflect a shifting strategy compared to even three years ago.
He has sat down for more than 90 minutes with Abbie Chatfield — a podcaster and Greens supporter who rose to fame on The Bachelor — and close to an hour with YouTuber Ozzy Man Reviews, a creator with 6.19 million subscribers best known for commentating viral videos in an exaggerated accent.
