I understood it as "the way to show that you are a trustworthy journalist (and therefore attract both willing publishers and willing sources) is to be seen on e

I understood it as "the way to show that you are a trustworthy journalist (and therefore attract both willing publishers and willing sources) is to be seen on e.g. Twitter/X, reporting things." So like, yes, there's a performative aspect that you do for other journalists, but its not solely that. Its not Linkedin for journalists. Its the equivalent of having a very robust github profile that's stacked with your own content.