As a former lawyer turned media relations strategist, Bec Derrington has built her career on understanding how credibility is created and discovered. As founder of SourceBottle, she has spent more than a decade observing first-hand how journalists source expertise, how reputations are built, and why 'authority signals' increasingly determine who gets heard.
Her insight into the evolving relationship between journalists (and the media more broadly), experts and audiences revealed a persistent inefficiency: journalists under pressure to produce timely, relevant stories were often overwhelmed with poorly matched pitches, while many highly credible experts remained invisible simply because they were difficult to discover.
The result was a missed opportunity for richer stories, more diverse perspectives and stronger public discourse.
In 2009, Bec created SourceBottle to address this gap, developing a platform designed to connect journalists with relevant subject-matter experts efficiently and transparently.
Since then, SourceBottle has helped tens of thousands of experts contribute to media coverage across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Ireland and North America, while supporting the media in their efforts to identify credible voices beyond their usual networks.
Today, Bec is widely recognised for her insight into the intersection of earned media, authority and discoverability in an AI-influenced information landscape.
Her work explores how credibility signals such as media coverage, expert commentary and trusted citations influence visibility not only in traditional media, but increasingly in search and generative AI environments.
A sought-after speaker, Bec brings both strategic perspective and practical frameworks to help communicators adapt to a rapidly evolving media ecosystem.
Her work emphasises the growing importance of trust, relevance and authority as structural advantages in a communication environment shaped by both human judgement and algorithmic systems.
Bec lives in Melbourne with her husband and three sons.
To book Bec Derrington as a speaker at your next event, get in touch.