The conversation around Durban content creators is strangely contradictory. They want access to our audiences. They want our photos, videos, reviews, recommendations, event coverage and audiences. Brands invite us to launches, tourism organisations want us to showcase destinations, restaurants want us to create content, and businesses increasingly rely on our ability to tell stories that traditional advertising cannot. But Durban still has a long way to go in recognising content creators as part of the modern media landscape, and, more importantly, in paying us fairly for our work.

I know this because I’ve spent over two decades working with words, storytelling, digital media and publishing. Since 2019, I’ve been developing Unfold Durban Media, and for the last two years I’ve been running a digital magazine that celebrates the people, places, and stories of this city. I have worked in journalism, content creation, public relations, digital marketing, social media and publishing. And whether the old media world likes it or not, those categories are becoming more and more blurred. 

Durban has a content creator problem, but it is not the creators

There are exceptional content creators in Durban. They are photographers, writers, videographers, bloggers, TikTokers, Instagram creators, podcasters, reviewers, journalists, commentators, business owners and storytellers. Some have enormous audiences. Others have smaller but highly engaged communities. Some create full-time, while others build their platforms around jobs, families and businesses. What many have in common is that they create value, and they should be paid for it.

An uncomfortable expectation remains that content creators should be grateful simply to receive an invitation to an event, a meal, a product, or a mention. Occasionally the offer is exposure. Sometimes it is, “Come and create content, and we will tag you.” Exposure does not pay the electricity bill.

Creating professional content takes skill and time business owners do not have. There is travel, equipment, research, filming, photography, writing, editing, captions, publishing, community management and the years spent building an audience before a brand ever approaches you. A creator’s audience is not free advertising. It is an asset that has sometimes taken years to build.

Why businesses should use Durban content creators

The value of Durban content creators is not the number of followers underneath our profile. Local creators know local culture. We know the neighbourhoods, the businesses and the people. They know how Durban speaks, eats, celebrates, complains and connects. We can often tell a local story with a familiarity that an advertising agency elsewhere can’t replicate. We already have a trusted audience you can use in a meaningful way for your brand.

A skilled content creator can take a restaurant opening, hotel, event, product, attraction or community initiative and turn it into something that people actually want to talk about, which is not the same as simply putting an advert out. That’s become blind advertising; flyers we throw out and overlook. It’s storytelling, and storytelling has always been valuable. 

Businesses that want professional content have to treat content creation as professional work, and creators need to know their worth. You don’t have to accept every opportunity, and not every invitation is a collaboration. 

My story is not the typical influencer story

I have a strong aversion to the term “influencer,” particularly when it is used to equate a profession with a stereotype or merely a number of followers. Furthermore, my journey did not begin with a deliberate plan to become an influencer. Instead, I started writing because I wanted to express myself in a way I had not been able to before.

Writing gave me a place to express myself, what I saw, experienced and thought was worth talking about. That writing has evolved into blogging, journalism, digital publishing, brand storytelling, social media, and, eventually, Unfold Durban.

Today I work in several of those worlds. I am a content creator, publicist, journalist, publisher, and AI expert. I started Unfold Durban, a digital storytelling platform. That history is important because the creator economy didn’t just pop up when TikTok came along. For years, people have been blogging, writing, photographing and building online communities. Platforms shifted. The work developed. And the need for credible storytelling remained unchanged. 

The uncomfortable conversation about journalism and content creation

This is where it gets complicated. I love working with news outlets, PR firms, businesses and organisations, but always to professional standards of accuracy, attribution, copyright, disclosure and responsible publishing. “Just because you’re a content creator who works outside of a traditional newsroom doesn’t mean you’re free from ethical standards.

At the same time, traditional media needs to understand that the media landscape has changed. I still see a gap between journalism and content creation that needs to be challenged.

I recently attended an event involving the South African National Editors’ Forum, SANEF, where the discussion was meant to engage with content creators and the changing media environment. SANEF has an important role to play in advocating for media ethics, quality journalism and media freedom. This is precisely why I found parts of the discussion frustrating. 

For an organisation that prides itself on research, verification and ethical reporting, I expected a little more awareness around content creation. I was struck by how little of the discussion appeared to reflect the different backgrounds and working realities of the content creators in the room.

Greed was cited as the reason for content creators’ existence. That was tough to hear, particularly because most of the content creators I know are not getting rich from their work. Some don’t get paid at all; it’s more of a passion for the niche they represent, whether that be travel, beauty, food, clothing, health or finance. 

 I also think that if we want creators to take professional media standards seriously, we have to make room for them to participate in a meaningful way and to be treated as people worthy of the same kind of consideration and research that we expect from them. 

The qualifications debate misses the point

Then there is another uncomfortable divide: the belief that a writer’s credibility largely depends on whether they have a journalism degree. Qualifications matter. Training matters. Professional experience matters. But so does lived experience and the work someone has built over time. 

There are some journalists with proper journalistic credentials, but some journalists came into the industry by other routes. There are writers who have spent years perfecting their craft away from traditional newsrooms. Experience has turned some creators into exceptional researchers, interviewers and storytellers. There are bad, lazy journalists, just as there are content creators who are divas and give the rest of us a bad name.

The divide between traditional media and independent creators isn’t just about ethics or professional standards. Sometimes it’s about who gets to be seen as legitimate enough to have a seat at the table. 

Where the line between journalist and content creator becomes blurred

The modern media landscape does not fit neatly into the categories it once did. A journalist can have a TikTok account. A content creator can conduct an interview. A blogger can investigate a story. A photographer can document breaking news. A YouTuber can produce a serious documentary. A publication can have an Instagram-first audience.

The important question should therefore be less about the label and more about the conduct. Did you verify the information? Have you identified your source? Did you distinguish fact from opinion?

Ethical content creation in Durban

I think Durban’s creators can help strengthen the local media ecosystem by holding themselves to high standards. Independence doesn’t equal irresponsibility, and a large audience doesn’t equal credibility.

My take on ethical content creation is:

• Respect copyright and intellectual property rights and provide credit.
• Do not plagiarise another creator’s article, caption, concept or unique creative work.
• Verify your facts before sharing anything.
• Distinguish between fact, opinion, advertising and personal experience.
• Disclose paid partnerships and commercial relationships.
• Admit mistakes openly
• Respect people’s privacy

Content creators are part of the media conversation

I don’t think content creators should be replacing journalists. I think we need both of them. Professional journalism performs a vital public service. So do independent writers, bloggers, publishers, photographers, podcasters and creators who bring different perspectives and communities to the conversation.

News organisations can collaborate and partner with trusted creators. Public relations professionals are able to help match stories to the right voices. Businesses can commission good local content. Creators can learn from the ethical traditions of journalism and also bring new formats, audiences and perspectives to the media ecosystem.

That’s the future I want to see. Not journalists vs. influencers, traditional or digital media or qualified vs. unqualified. The real divide should be credible versus careless, ethical versus unethical, original versus copied, professional versus exploitative.

Durban is not short of stories. We have no shortage of people who can tell us. What we need is an industry that accepts that Durban content creators are a part of a growing creative and media economy