Jenny Abamu

In a special panel episode of Chief Influencer®, recorded live at the Embassy of Austria in partnership with the National Digital Roundtable, Anthony Shop moderates a conversation on the forces reshaping how people discover, trust, and engage with information. He's joined by Jenny Abamu, Maryland Policy & Politics Reporter at WAMU 88.5; Katerina Eva Matsa, Director of News & Information Research at Pew Research Center; Tony "TonyPinDC" Polcari, Principal and On-Air Host of Current Strategy at Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Fox 5 DC; and Peter Cherukuri, Founder of LeaderForce Studios. Together they unpack how audience fragmentation, the rise of independent creators, and artificial intelligence are rewriting both the business of news and the public's relationship with truth.The conversation goes well past media-industry shop talk. Jenny and Tony describe how they've built trust by showing their work and embracing imperfection on social platforms; Kat brings the research on why institutional trust has eroded while local news and creator relationships largely haven't, and Peter unpacks the business models, from "front porch, premium backyard" strategies to AI as an accelerant rather than a replacement, that will determine who survives the shift. For any leader navigating a fragmented, AI-accelerated information environment, this episode is a working playbook for earning and keeping trust.Takeaways:Influence Has Become Personal: Trust is shifting away from institutions and toward the people who represent them. The organizations winning today are the ones empowering authentic voices to build relationships at scale.Authenticity Beats Polish, Even With the "Ums": A stumble, an accent, an unscripted moment — these read as more human and more trustworthy than a flawlessly produced segment, especially with younger and social-first audiences.Local News Wins on Trust Because of Proximity: Audiences trust local journalists more than national outlets largely because they believe those journalists are embedded in their communities. Local news is also one of the few places where partisan polarization in media trust hasn't taken hold.Utility Is the New Trust Currency: People extend trust to whoever actually helps them do something — understand a ballot measure, navigate a local issue, do their job better. Business models built around real utility are outperforming strategies built purely for scale.Short-Form Content Is the Gatekeeper to Long-Form Trust: In the "clip economy," a strong first few seconds earns the right to a longer relationship. Audiences hand over their attention in stages, and creators who win the short clip can convert that into deeper engagement over time.AI Can Accelerate the Work, But It Can't Build the Relationship: Every panelist agreed AI is already speeding up production, editing, and research — but none believe it can replace source relationships, lived experience, or the judgment required to interpret what people actually mean.Owning Your Faults Builds More Trust Than Hiding Them: Audiences are forgiving of mistakes and unforgiving of cover-ups. Being transparent about missteps, rather than scrubbing them, is one of the fastest ways to build durable credibility.Quote of the Show:"Trust is the gold coin of this media age." — Jenny AbamuLinks:Jenny AbamuLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennyabamu/WAMU: https://wamu.org/person/jenny-abamu/Katerina Eva MatsaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kmatsa/Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/katerina-eva-matsa/Tony "TonyPinDC" PolcariLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyjpolcari/Fox 5 DC: https://www.fox5dc.com/Peter CherukuriLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petercherukuri/ Embassy of Austria: https://www.austria.org/ National Digital Roundtable: https://www.digitalroundtable.org/ Shout Outs:Anna Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-palmer-124a295/ 2WAY: https://2way.tv/ “Machines of Loving Grace”: https://darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace