This morning, I’m welcoming two guest authors – Emily Wright and Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein from the Center for News Technology and Innovation (CNTI). Project C partnered with CNTI on a study that was released earlier this year about creator journalists working in the U.S. After we finished our work, they continued – partnering with Code for Africa to run the same study in South Africa. Today, Emily and Jay write about both of the studies - what they saw that was similar, and wildly different, in each country. Enjoy - and read on after the essay for this week’s news from around the creator journalism ecosystem. - Liz

Do you…

If you answered “yes” to all three questions (and if you’re reading this newsletter, you probably did), the Center for News, Technology & Innovation would call you an “indie info provider.” Don’t worry, you can be both a creator-journalist and an indie info provider. We use this term to account for people who might not consider themselves journalists but are still doing “acts of journalism” (as our friends at News Creator Corps like to put it).

To understand how indie info providers navigate today’s media landscape, the Center for News, Technology & Innovation (CNTI) – in partnership with Project C and Code for Africa – recently released two reports examining indie info providers in the United States and South Africa. As a global research center dedicated to supporting independent media, an open internet and informed policy conversations, CNTI investigated these indie info providers’ approach to credibility, revenue strategies and evolving roles within the broader information landscape. 

In the reports, we looked at each country on its own terms. By analyzing them together, we can see some common threads — and some big contrasts. Below, we discuss some key similarities and differences.

The journalism industries in South Africa and the U.S. face similar struggles. In South Africa, recent media crises have forced media outlets to rely heavily on freelancers and short-term contracts. In the US, local journalism has contracted significantly in the last 20 years, and massive layoffs are happening even at legacy newsrooms like The Washington Post. 

In both countries, indie info providers have become important info sources for the public. A 2024 CNTI study highlights this shift, showing that about one in four people in South Africa and one in five in the U.S. get their news from individuals rather than organizations. Recognizing this trend, legacy newsrooms in the U.S. are actively partnering with these creators. 

Of the 26 U.S. creators interviewed, drawn from Project C’s network, 23 launched their projects after 2020; in contrast, 12 of the 18 South African interviewees established their indie brands before 2020. The South Africans generally needed to dedicate fewer hours per week to them than their American counterparts, likely because they had passed the start-up phase. 

Still, both cohorts included many career journalists who took this path in response to job loss or broader industry instability. 

It became clear in talking with creators that it is real work to make money in the creator space. In fact, many creators interviewed in both countries struggled to articulate a clear business strategy. What is consistent is that having diversified revenue sources, instead of solely relying on reader revenue or ads, tends to provide more financial stability. In the U.S., although it is difficult to find a “third pillar” of funding outside of advertising and reader revenue, a few have cracked the code. Some interviewees capitalize on their expertise through consulting, speaking fees and events. Others are subsidizing their journalism indirectly: one interviewee sells related software and interactive content, while another connects their audience to paid opportunities for a fee. 

South African indie info providers don’t see relying on reader revenue as a sustainable model. Instead, events help drive revenue and audience growth. Some interviewees monetize their content by staging live theater versions of their online reporting, hosting exclusive industry awards or running interactive webinars. This model has been especially successful for B2B providers and satirists, who have been able to turn in-person engagement into financial stability. Others are turning to sponsors for funding. One interviewee relies on three different forms of sponsorship (direct, an advertorial platform that subsidizes the editorial platform and premium corporate subscriptions). Many South African interviewees are acting as their own sponsors and fund their indie brand indirectly through independent businesses or other day jobs. 

One of the most striking differences between U.S. and South African indie info providers is in their relationships with legacy newsrooms and freelance work. In South Africa, many creators actively partner with larger newsrooms to co-host events, syndicate content and appear on broadcasts. These creators also see their freelance work as intertwined with or an extension of their indie brands: their work is their work, no matter what publication it appears in. 

In contrast, U.S. indie info providers struggle to build these relationships with larger newsrooms. They say legacy newsrooms tend to view indie info providers as direct competitors, creating a culture of distrust. Indie info providers worry about having their ideas stolen during pitches, losing creative control or being exploited for “exposure” rather than receiving fair compensation. The U.S.-based creators who submit freelance work to larger newsrooms see this work separate from their indie brand, potentially due to concerns over losing editorial freedom. While South African creators see their relationship with larger newsrooms as a collaboration, U.S. creators see it as a transactional relationship or nonexistent. 

The two cohorts had very different approaches to using AI, especially LLMs. South African interviewees are pragmatic, even when they are somewhat skeptical. As one person put it, “Listen, I want to complain with everybody about AI and how awful it is, but I work alone. I am a one-man team, and it has been an invaluable resource for me.”

In some cases, LLMs seemed to act almost as a coworker. Interviewees described using these tools for a wide range of strategic and editorial tasks, including developing story angles, drafting emails, and cleaning up scripts. At the same time, several interviewees discussed pragmatic and functional challenges, especially cultural biases, linguistic gaps and unreliable rural internet infrastructure. 

For the most part, U.S. interviewees had a different and more restricted attitude towards using LLMs.  For many, AI tools are part of their process at some stage, but almost none of them use them to produce content directly. Many use specialized AI tools rather than general-purpose tools like LLMs, such as task and project management software, transcription tools or visual content editing. At least eight interviewees actively opposed the use of LLMs for content creation and some avoid using LLMs entirely. As one interviewee said, “I think that people should use their big brains.”

Indie info providers in both countries find a multi-platform strategy essential. Eighteen of the 26 U.S. creators are active on at least three platforms, while roughly half of the South African cohort use six or more. 

Local media environments shaped which platforms they prioritized. In South Africa’s heavily mobile-first market, where 67% of surveyed English-speaking news consumers access news via smartphones and 98.2% of surveyed internet users are active on social media, indie info providers prioritize mobile-friendly platforms like Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, and newsletter platforms are much less popular. Only 3 total interviewees mentioned using Substack or Beehiiv, and no one mentioned Ghost.

In contrast, newsletters are an important platform for U.S. indie info providers, with 22 of the 26 interviewees using one of these three platforms. For many, newsletters are more straightforward to monetize than platforms that exercise more control over information about the audience. However, U.S. interviewees do still use Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

This kind of deep-dive small-scale research is absolutely critical in capturing nuance and depth. It can’t capture the whole field, but it can help us figure out what questions to ask. Amidst global shifts in the journalism industry , indie info providers are here to stay. These two reports help address this knowledge gap, but there are larger-scale questions we still need answers to. Sign up here for more information about our plans — and how you can participate. 

Emily Wright is the Research Assistant at the Center for News, Technology & Innovation. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein is the Senior Research Manager at the Center for News, Technology & Innovation.

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