Published in partnership with: Outpost for Ghost publishers

Programming note: If you, or a journalist you know was laid off (or is worried about potential layoffs), join Project C for a free Nov. 24th session: Is Indie Journalism Right for Me? Thanks to several layoff rounds at multiple news orgs this month already, we have 130+ signups 😱 as of today – but we don’t want to turn anyone away who wants to join, so there’s still room. Attendees will hear from a panel of journalists who have left traditional news organizations and are making it as independent creators.

Full disclosure up front: I’m a member beehiiv Media Collective advisory board. They didn’t ask me to write this and had no input.

The basic gist of what we advise here at Project C at is this: If you are just writing a newsletter (or just producing a podcast or just running a YouTube/TikTok/instagram channel), that may not be enough to sustain an independent personality-based brand. That goes for monetization, too – it’s hard to get to sustainability (let alone profit) with just one line of revenue.

We bet on two kinds of creator-journalists who stand the test of time around here:

The new beehiiv expansion is aimed squarely at helping their platform users do the second thing. There are some software-y components of the update that make it easier to build websites and newsletters, but the real nuggets are personalization, much more robust analytics, integration of podcasts and video (rather than forcing you into a beehiiv solution ala Substack), a new analytics-connected link tree feature and a built-in digital product shop.

All of this makes it easier for solopreneurs who want to scale to do it on one platform rather than having to navigate an array of tools. And, it should be noted, beehiiv takes zero cut of any sales or subscriber revenue.

Although this is a big step forward for beehiiv, and one that makes it way more attractive vs. Substack (too closed, too basic and too Nazi) and Ghost (too complicated yet not enough marketing features) in multiple ways – we’d still caution against being too reliant on any one platform, including beehiiv. And for anyone with an email list, back up that list early and often.

📌 Casey Newton, Alex Heath and Mosheh Oinounou are among the first round of indie journalists who have signed on for representation with former Vox/Axios/Puck sales lead AJ Frucci’s new biz Alltogether.

📌 In a new Forbes profile, Emily Sundberg (who launched a new podcast, too) said, “I’m not saying anything crazier than what male journalists or podcasters say every day. I’m just doing it in my voice.”

📌 “ I think in this moment, not being a part of corporate media is actually a gift,” said Joy Reid in a Guardian interview about her post-MSNBC life as a content creator.

📌 The architects of the NYT’s vertical video strategy say they they’re building an engaged in-app audience that isn’t just starting videos, but finishing them.

📌 Both mainstream media and online influencers are increasingly leaning to the right in the U.S., per a new Reuters investigation.

📌 Matt Kiser of What the Fuck Just Happened Today built something super-cool to acknowledge the fact that it’s been a year since Trump’s reelection.

📌 ICYMI, Hellgate livestreamed coverage of election night in NYC and it was amazing.

📌 It’s that time of year when creators start something super-valuable: a look back at how the year went and how their business is doing. Fresh insights from Matt Kiser, The FlyTrap, Max Read, and Stumptown Savings.

📌 More new research: Pew released new stats about who is getting news from “news influencers” and finds most who do just come across it vs. seeking it out. 😉

🪐 This newsletter is presented in partnership with Outpost 🪐

Have you heard of Outpost?

Outpost is a marketing and monetization tool for Ghost. They’re an independent publishers cooperative, not bankrolled by billionaires. They work directly for publishers and all publishers get a say in what they build.

You can use Outpost to automatically send upgrade, retention and win back messages to readers. If you’re running a Ghost publication, and you want to expand your revenue potential this year, you should really check out Outpost.

📌 The Lenfest Institute for Journalism announced $1 million in funding for creators and local newsrooms who want to partner with them. Applications are open through Jan. 12, 2026.

📌 The application deadline for the 2026 John S. Knight Fellowships at Stanford is coming fast: Dec. 3. This is an incredible opportunity to spend nine months with a group of smart people all working towards building a strong future for news.

📌 Applications for the 2026 Reynolds Journalism Institute Professional Innovation Fellowship open Dec. 1. This one isn’t so much to fund specific creator content, but innovative tools and products that help get more and better news to local communities.

📌 Creators, if you haven’t yet, spend a few minutes taking this new Project C/CNTI survey to help us define the future of support for independent creator journalists.