We’ll say what everyone is thinking – we’re just a few weeks out from the RSAC Conference, and the media list is still looking light. Every year, we see reporters wait until the week before to register to avoid the influx of interview and coffee chat pitches, but this year it seems even more pronounced. The media landscape has fractured significantly in recent months, shifting how news is broken and who's breaking it.
Reporters who have been constant pillars at RSAC in years past have been impacted by publication-wide layoffs and are now navigating the freelance world, while others have left traditional mastheads to go off on their own. The lack of government presence at conferences like RSAC has also left reporters with gaps in their schedules and an appetite for industry-led voices that fill the void once occupied by government officials.
This double-vacuum has accelerated a fundamental shift in our RSAC playbook. We’re moving beyond a traditional earned-only media strategy that focuses solely on onsite briefings. A winning approach today integrates the authority of traditional targets with the high-impact reach of the “creator journalist” – those leading the industry’s latest influential podcasts, Substacks, and digital platforms.
We’ve seen a surge in journalists heading out on their own to start successful Substacks, podcasts, or platforms. For example, veteran tech journalist David Spark founded CISO Series, a podcast series and media network. It has grown into a massive ecosystem of shows like Defense in Depth and Cybersecurity Headlines, proving exactly where IT and security leaders are sourcing their daily news.
While they may not have two decades of tenure like Dark Reading, creator journalists will be onsite during RAC and offer a POV specialized for their unique audiences and. Here’s a shortlist of creators who you should be paying attention to:
The Ravit Show (1M+ YouTube Subscribers): Reaching a massive audience of AI and data science professionals, Ravit Jain hones in on the intersection of data integrity and emerging tech, with an increasing focus on implementing AI with a secure by design approach. The show has featured interviews with major tech leaders from companies like Cisco, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft.
CISO Tradecraft (42.3K YouTube Subscribers): Hosted by G Mark Hardy, CISO Tradecraft is a strategic playbook for the exec suite, and has featured interviews with executives from companies like SolarWinds, 1Password and ThreatLocker. It leans heavily into the business side of security – leadership, risk management and ROI – allowing vendors to speak directly to decision makers who are tired of technical jargon.
Error Code Podcast: Instead of quick hit headlines, Robert Vamosi delivers biweekly, narrative-driven discussions on code resilience and dependability. This podcast gives a behind-the-scenes look at the leaders solving today’s most complex problems and has featured guests from Claroty, Rapid7, and Illumio.
Simply Cyber(268K YouTube Subscribers): Hosted by 20+ year cybersecurity professional, academic, and author Dr. Gerald Auger, Simply Cyber reaches an expansive audience of security practitioners with daily threat briefs and tactical deep dives. The platform is a staple for community engagement and has featured leaders from companies like Splunk and HighPoint.
Don’t limit yourself to just the reporters on the RSAC press list, though. There are influential SF-based creator journalists with significant audience bases. One prime example is Unsupervised Learning (667K YouTube Subscribers), hosted by SF-based thought leader. Daniel Miessler. With a massive audience on YouTube and his newsletter, Miessler offers deep dives into cybersecurity, national security, technology, AI, and more, and has featured prominent experts from Palo Alto Networks, Vanta, Chainguard and more.
Resilient Cyber by Chris Hughes: Great source for deep dives into the software supply chain security, gov-tech and agentic AI governance, a major theme for this year’s conference.
Metacurity by Cynthia Brumfield: Powerhouse for policy, regulatory shifts and the human side of cybersecurity risk management.
Venture in Security by Ross Haleliuk: A go-to for narratives around M&A, VC-funding shifts and the move from FUD to business-enabling cybersecurity.
We as cybersecurity PR and marketing specialists can no longer just wait for the latest version of the media list to become available. We need to be proactive about unearthing new targets, following our favorite journalists who have departed from their traditional roles, and leaning into the possibilities created by new media. The
We’ll be at RSAC in a few weeks and would love to share more! Let us know if we’ll see you there.
— Justine Groeber, #HWCyberSquad