For decades, the pathway to stardom in news media was remarkably similar to baseball’s farm system. You started in a small market, maybe anchoring the weekend shift when nobody was watching, and if you worked hard enough, you slowly climbed your way to the big leagues. Market 150 became Market 50, which became Market 10, which maybe, if you were lucky, turned into a call from a network. That system doesn’t exist anymore. The modern-day “farm system” isn’t Columbus, Des Moines, or Raleigh. It’s YouTube and Apple Podcasts.
If you can break through there, cable news or a major network might come calling. But the ladder of working your way up through a newsroom has become increasingly irrelevant in building a national profile.
And it makes perfect sense.
Viewers aren’t necessarily finding talent through the 6 p.m. newscast anymore. They’re finding them through clips that hit their TikTok algorithm or podcasts that are easy to consume on a commute. The talent pool has expanded, the means of distribution are infinite, and the audiences are the ones who decide who rises and who falls—not news directors, not network executives.
Think about Tucker Carlson. After leaving Fox News, he didn’t try to jump to CNN, MSNBC, or NewsNation. He went straight to Twitter/X, where his videos regularly get millions of views. Megyn Kelly is another prime example — her podcast has turned into a juggernaut that might rival the reach of her days on television.
And then there’s the flip side: people like Ben Shapiro, Dave Rubin, or Crystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, who never needed a legacy television platform in the first place. They built their brands on digital-first platforms and only later did traditional media outlets start viewing them as viable competition.
The pipeline has completely flipped.
Instead of national outlets grooming their next star internally, they’re scouring the internet for creators who have already proven they can generate an audience. In many ways, it’s easier for the networks. Why risk elevating a relatively unknown field reporter when you can plug in someone who already has a built-in fan base? It’s a safer bet in an industry where ratings and revenue matter more than ever.
But that leaves traditional up-and-comers in a tough spot. The journalist grinding in Tulsa or the producer hoping to get on air in Nashville is no longer in a straight line to CNN or NBC. That track is nearly gone. They’re competing not only against their peers in local newsrooms, but against anyone with a microphone, a ring light, and the ability to connect with an audience online.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing—it’s just different.
Talent used to be filtered through gatekeepers. You needed a news director to believe in you. You needed executives to decide you were worthy of a promotion. Now, audiences get the final say. If you’re good enough, entertaining enough, or compelling enough, people will find you. And if you can consistently hold their attention, you don’t just become a star—you become undeniable.
Cable networks and traditional outlets are simply catching up to what the audience already knows. For young broadcasters, the lesson is clear: stop waiting for the call-up. If you want to be a star in news media, you can’t rely on the old model of “paying your dues” and hoping the right executive happens to notice your 11 PM stand-up. You need to take ownership of your own distribution. Build your YouTube channel. Launch your podcast. Grow an audience on social platforms. Because once you’ve built an audience, the networks will have no choice but to take notice.
That doesn’t mean the traditional pipeline is entirely useless. Local newsrooms still provide valuable reps and polish that creators don’t always have. Learning how to handle breaking news, deal with deadlines, and manage live shots isn’t something you pick up overnight. But in terms of visibility and upward mobility, local news has lost its role as the primary pathway to national stardom.
We’re in an era where the “farm team” is no longer inside the industry—it’s outside of it. The next cable news star isn’t likely logging late nights at a station in Dayton. They’re already building a following online, speaking directly to an audience, and showing networks they don’t need traditional media to succeed.
In fact, that’s the new currency. If you’ve proven you don’t need them, that’s when they’ll want you most.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
