Nor are they a newspaper editor, a TikTok influencer, or a podcaster. They are the anonymous on-shift editor of the BBC News app, making snap judgments on whether to make the phones of millions of people buzz with a breaking news push alert.
The BBC does not publish user numbers but external research suggests about 12.6 million people in Britain have its news app installed. BBC newsroom sources suggest the actual number is higher and about 60% of users are thought to have notifications enabled. This means that on a conservative estimate each push alert is reaching the phones of 7 million people in Britain - more than any other broadcast news bulletin in the UK.
Craig Oliver, who was David Cameron's No 10 communications chief from 2011 to 16, said that influencing the BBC's coverage was the main objective for all political press officers. This used to mean phoning editors of specific television news shows. Now the focus was shifting online.
"The sheer scale of the website alone and its breaking news alerts is huge," he said. "Once something gets into the water supply of the BBC, it's very hard to get it out."
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