The LinkedIn Strategy Nobody Talks About: Become a 'Journalist' for Your Industry

There's a LinkedIn strategy hiding in plain sight.

The creators using it don't look like typical "thought leaders." They don't share morning routines or hard-won lessons from their journey.

Instead, they do something simpler: they cover their industry like journalists.

The Strategy

Pick a niche. Follow the news. Add your commentary.

That's it.

When something happens in AI, the "AI journalists" on LinkedIn explain what it means.

When a company in fintech raises money, the fintech commentators break down why it matters.

When regulation changes, the policy nerds translate it for everyone else.

They're not reporting news. Actual journalists do that. They're adding perspective. They're saying "here's what this means for you."

Why It Works

Most people think LinkedIn content needs to be personal. And personal content works. But it's also exhausting.

You can only share so many origin stories. You can only talk about your failures and comebacks so many times before you run out of material, or it starts feeling forced.

The journalist strategy solves this problem completely.

News is infinite. There's always something to react to. Every week brings new fundraises, new launches, new controversies, new regulations.

Your perspective is what makes it valuable. The news is the raw material. Your analysis is the product.

How to Do It

1. Pick your beat

What industry are you actually qualified to comment on? Where do you have genuine expertise that makes your perspective worth hearing?

Don't pick too broadly. "Tech" isn't a beat. "How AI is changing legal services" is a beat.

2. Build your sources

Follow the publications that cover your space. Set up Google Alerts. Join the Slack communities where practitioners share news.

The goal is to see what's happening faster than your audience.

3. Add the "so what"

This is the whole game. Anyone can summarize news. The value is in saying "here's what this means."

Does this fundraise signal a shift in how investors see the market?

Does this product launch threaten an incumbent?

Does this regulation create opportunity or kill it?

4. Be consistent

The journalist strategy compounds. If you comment on every major development in your niche, people start coming to you first when they want to understand what's happening.

You become the person who "covers" that topic.

Why some people love this

The journalist strategy is permission to have opinions without having to be the story.

Some people love being the main character. They share their journey, their struggles, their wins. That works for them.

Other people would rather stay behind the scenes. They have valuable perspectives but don't want to constantly self-promote.

The journalist strategy is made for the second group.

You're not saying "look at me." You're saying "look at this, here's what I think it means."

A Real Example

Let's say you work in healthcare tech.

News: "Epic just announced a new AI partnership."

Generic post: "Wow, Epic announced an AI partnership. Healthcare is changing!"

Journalist post: "Epic's new AI partnership tells us three things about where healthcare is headed:

1. [Your insight about what it means for interoperability]
2. [Your take on how competitors will respond]
3. [Your prediction for what this enables that wasn't possible before]

Here's what I'd watch for over the next 6 months..."

The second version positions you as the expert. The first makes you look like everyone else.

You don't need to be the story to build authority on LinkedIn. Sometimes the best move is to cover the story and let your perspective do the talking.

Pick a beat. Follow the news. Add your commentary. That's it.

For more on this approach, read why reacting to news events is a winning LinkedIn strategy. And if you want to study people who do this well, check out 10 startup founders to follow on LinkedIn.