What does “media (news) disruptor” mean?

Solution 1:

Media or news disruptors refer to those people who are actually changing the traditional way the media or news industry is organised creating new business models. The term can be applied to any context to refer to someone or something that is going to bring about a radical change. The term disruption in this case is similar to innovation but has stronger implications as shown below:

Disruption Vs Innovation: What's The Difference?

  • People are sometimes confused about the difference between innovation and disruption. It’s not exactly black and white, but there are real distinctions, and it’s not just splitting hairs. Think of it this way: Disruptors are innovators, but not all innovators are disruptors— in the same way that a square is a rectangle but not all rectangles are squares.

    • Innovation and disruption are similar in that they are both makers and builders. Disruption takes a left turn by literally uprooting and changing how we think, behave, do business, learn and go about our day-to-day. Harvard Business School professor and disruption guru Clayton Christensen says that a disruption displaces an existing market, industry, or technology and produces something new and more efficient and worthwhile. It is at once destructive and creative.

Source: www.forbes.com

Solution 2:

"Disruptor" is a fairly new buzzword. It can be used in a variety of contexts, not just with regards to the media.

  1. Airbnb is described as a disruptor to the accommodation industry
  2. Uber is described as a transportation services disruptor.

Basically, it means that something new (either a company, or a technology) comes along and changes an industry that was static. When the term is used in news articles, the incumbents in the industry are typically portrayed as villains, charging too much money and acting monopolistically.