I’m so excited to share news from Project C about a resource we’ve been developing alongside friends at Trusting News and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism on behalf of the Knight Communities Network: The Creator Journalism Trust & Credibility Toolkit. 
We developed the toolkit to meet a specific need: Helping local news ecosystem funders assess whether a creator’s work is trustworthy, high-quality and worthy of investment. This is important because while many local funders recognize that creator-model journalists – independent voices, niche newsletters, social-platform reporters –are playing an ever-bigger role in reaching audiences, they don’t (or didn’t!) have a way to identify which creators are informing their communities responsibly.
The toolkit includes:
A Trust Framework, with a simple green/yellow/red visual aid to help funders (or anyone) gauge creator-journalist credibility (with graphic design by Project C Community member Amanda Shendruk!).
Prompts to map local creator-journalists
A template for building your own list of local creators
A step-by-step guide to reaching out to creators
A checklist to help funders evaluate creator ethics 
A companion piece for creators themselves (and newsrooms) to ask: “Am I showing my audience why they should trust me?”
Why did we do this?
As news ecosystems evolve, we need frameworks like this that help connect, evaluate, and support creator-journalists with intention – whether that’s via grants, partnerships, or collaborative reporting.
We believe creator-model journalists can and should thrive alongside legacy news and in partnership with funders. In some communities, creator-model journalists are the only source of news and information. In others, creators are building strong partnerships with more traditional outlets. And in still others, creator-model journalists are covering topics or communities left out of more mainstream coverage. This toolkit aligns exactly with our mission of making explicit how that work can be supported based on shared trust, clarity, ethics, and transparency.
How to use this toolkit
If you’re a:
Funder: This toolkit gives you a structured way to engage creator-journalists: map who’s active in your region, evaluate alignment, craft partnership documents, and spot credibility risks.
Creator-model journalist: Consider using the ethics checklist as your own internal audit. How clear are you about funding, mission, audience, differentiation? Could any of those aspects be more visible to your readers or subscribers?
Newsroom leader: If you’re thinking about how to collaborate with creator-journalists (or hire, partner, or fund them), this toolkit – along with API’s robust guide to Influencer collaborations – gives you a play-book for responsible, ethical engagement.
What’s next?
I’d love to hear from you: if you use the toolkit (or are considering it) in your region, please drop me a line. Let’s talk about what’s working, what’s missing, and how creator-journalism intersects with your funding/ newsroom/ creator strategy.
I’m proud that Project C could play a role in this toolkit’s creation alongside Trusting News and Lenfest. If you’d like to chat further – or if you want help adapting any of the templates for your region or platform – drop us a line at [email protected] or [email protected].
What’s coming up at Project C!
Each month, we bring members of the Project C Community at least one, but usually more, live events. Here’s what’s coming up on the events calendar:
🚀 Wednesday, Nov. 12 | Your Next Milestone - Join Lex Roman for one of our most popular monthly hangs to choose your next goal and plan how to get there. REGISTER
🚀 Wednesday, Nov. 19 - Podcasting for Newsletter Writers – Your Podcast Pipeline founder Christabel Nsiah-Baudi shares her thoughts on how to get into, and monetize, podcasting. REGISTER
🚀 Wednesday, Dec. 3 - Pitch Your Sponsors co-working session – Get feedback, tips and encouragement for your sponsorship pitches. REGISTER
🚀 Tuesday, Dec. 16 – Your Next Milestone End of Year Edition! – We'll use our December session to reflect on how your 2025 went and what you're planning for the beginning of 2026. REGISTER
To get access to these events and the Project C Slack community, join here!
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