In partnership with: Outpost for Ghost publishers
Reuters’ creator typology. (Source: The Reuters Institute)
The creator model isn’t the future. It’s the field.
Three separate studies dropped this week, and together they say what many of us in creator-model journalism have known for a while: audiences are already living in feeds, creators are already doing the work, and institutions are finally measuring what’s been true on the ground.
The Reuters Institute mapped who gets attention for news on social/video across 24 countries and found creator attention is highest in countries where legacy media is weak; YouTube leads; the space is male-dominated and the creators cited as the biggest draw (in the U.S.) are news-fluencers like Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson.
(Source: The Reuters Institute)
Meanwhile, MuckRack finds creator journalism is not a blip: one-third of journalists in their survey of MuckRack members report publishing independently, half of creators have been at it 5+ years, and social is essential to their reporting workflows. Motivation skews to creative/editorial freedom (57%) over pure financial goals. 
(Source: MuckRack)
Adobe surveyed 16,000 creators (note: this survey covers creators in general, not just journalists or news-adjacent creators) about how they get their work done – a key question about how solopreneurs and small teams are able to keep up: Unsurprisingly, 86% now use generative AI; 76% say it’s growing their business or follower base; 60% use multiple AI tools; and 69% worry about their work training AI without permission. 🚨 👩🎓Journalism schools, in particular, should take note of this when thinking about the limited value of building out broadcast studios: “Mobile tools are no longer just for quick captures and edits – they're now the creative starting and end point for many creators.”
The most useful takeaways:
From Adobe: Gen-AI is table stakes for creators now (86% use it), mostly to edit/enhance, generate assets, and ideate. And creators are tool-agnostic (60% use multiple tools). 
From The Reuters Institute: Attention is contextual. In countries where mainstream media struggles, creators/influencers command more focus; in strong-brand markets (like Europe), legacy outlets still dominate. Under-35s on social tilt to creators; 35+ tilt to outlets. YouTube remains the strongest platform for news creators. 
From Muck Rack: Creator journalism is maturing: one-third of journalists self-publish; half of creators have 5+ years experience. Most creators run small but durable audiences (<10k subs/followers), which is exactly where local information gaps get filled. Freedom, not clicks, is the top motivator. 
Caveats to keep in mind:
Reuters Institute’s terminology: Their frame is “news creators and influencers,” which skews toward attention and personality rather than creator-model journalism as a practice with reporting standards, service, and accountability. Useful for attention mapping, less precise for credibility and public-service outcomes. 
Muck Rack’s sampling: It’s drawn from Muck Rack’s journalist universe. Many independent creator-model journalists aren’t in that dataset, so the picture likely undercounts non-traditional and community-rooted creators. Still, it’s a valuable baseline showing how many newsroom journalists are also building independent work. 
Adobe’s lens: It’s a creator-economy survey, not journalism-specific. Great for understanding tools, adoption, and sentiment (especially around AI and mobile), but it’s not a readout on editorial ethics, transparency, or civic impact. Pair it with trust frameworks when funding journalism-adjacent creators. 
How we’d use this:
Funders: Treat this as a permission slip to update your portfolio: include creator-model journalists alongside legacy partners. Use a trust/credibility framework to separate journalism from general “influencing,” then fund for audience fit + mission clarity + transparency.
Newsrooms: Stop waiting for “proof” that creators reach people you can’t. It’s here. It’s been here. Build co-reporting, distribution swaps, contributor desks, and on-platform explainers with creators who serve your target communities.
Creators: Lean into your niche + trust signals. Document your methods, label your work, and treat AI as a speed/quality assist with human-in-the-loop control. The small, durable audience you nurture is a feature, not a bug.
💡 Curious how to turn this research into an investable, actionable plan in your city? That’s literally our jam. Check out the new Creator-Model Journalism Trust & Credibility Toolkit we built with Trusting News and Lenfest to help funders and partners vet, support, and collaborate responsibly.
🔥 the latest things
📌 Former WaPo TikTok guy Dave Jorgenson just launched LNI’s first major brand collaboration, with Harry’s, for a “Will Dave shave” campaign. In a newsletter post, Jorgenson writes, “I’ll always be completely transparent when I’m working with a brand.” Speaking of Dave, if there was any question about his impact on WaPo’s YouTube numbers – it’s been definitely answered.
📌 Julia Angwin has been tapped to lead a new research initiative into emerging media at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center.
📌 Kaya Yurieff, who until recently had been writing The Information’s strong creator economy newsletter, is launching her own creator venture – podcasts/newsletter Scalable – with former eMarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg.
📌 Anne Helen Petersen has decamped from Substack, taking her wildly popular Culture Study newsletter – not to beehiiv or Ghost, but to Patreon. At the link, she talks about how Substack was increasingly problematic for her as a creator and talks up Patreon’s “newsletter functionality to rival (if not improve upon) Substack’s.”
📌 It’s impossible to understand the rise of creator-model journalism without considering the precipitous loss of trust in mainstream media. This Harper’s Magazine conversation between Jelani Cobb, Max Tani Taylor Lorenz and Jack Shafer about how that trust was lost is well worth your time.
🏆 Congratulations to Howtown’s Joss Fong for her National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications! 👏👏 👏
📌 How is CNN Creators going? You be the judge:
📌 In more legacy Pivot to Creator news, the New York Times is debuting a new “Watch” tab in its app designed to build a short-form, vertical, scrolling experience for Times audiences.
💭 What do you think about legacy brands adopting creator practices? In a class I spoke to this week at George Washington University, a few students shared that they found legacy attempts at vertical video to be inauthentic and forced. I’d love to see good (and not so good) examples of legacy experiments in the creator lane. Hit reply to send them my way (or send to [email protected].)
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🚀 Launch!
Congratulations to Project C Community member (and Going Solo alum!) Amanda Shendruk on the launch of her newsletter, Not-Ship. The new newsletter combines Amanda’s deep skill as a data visualizer/graphic designer with her keen interest in finding hidden stories in what we see – like this wild analysis of what are clearly AI-generated posters coming out of the Trump administration’s Department of Labor:
(Courtesy Not-Ship)
Don’t miss an issue – subscribe here!
🛠 the useful things
📌 Huge thanks to former LA Times reporter Brian Merchant (and to all creator journos who do this) for sharing how it’s going. Six months in, says Merchant, he is “currently making more than one half of my salary at my last media job.”
😎 cool things to do
📹 WSJ’s Julia Munslow leads an online ONA meetup designed to teach journalists how to make “scroll stopping” social video. Scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 5. Sign up at the link.
💰 Ready to take your newsletter revenue to the next level? Sign up now for Revenue 201: From Surviving to Thriving as a Creator Journalist. Taught by me and Blair Hickman and offered through the Knight Center at UT Austin, we’ll kick off the four-week virtual course on Nov. 2nd. That’s Monday - we still have a few slots. Sign up now!
📌 Next Thursday, Nov. 7, I’ll be in Chicago for Press Forward Chicago’s Better Together event: An open discussion for influencers and creators about the Chicago-area news and information landscape, and how to can create partnerships between traditional and newer forms of media. Want to join me for this free event? Register ASAP!
📌 I’m also headed to Philadelphia on Nov. 8th to take part in KleinCamp. If you’re in the Philadelphia area, it’s worth checking out. The conference leans into hands-on innovation thinking and tickets are only $20.
👷♀Jorbs
📌 Substack is hiring an events lead to “reimagine what events can do for creators and culture.” SUCH GODLIKE POWER!
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!
