Five things journalists need to hear right now

🚀 April’s Going Solo cohort is filling up! Registration closes Friday, so sign up now or join two of my fellow instructors, Blair Hickman and Ryan Kellett, for a free info session tomorrow (Tuesday) at 4 ET/1 PT. You’ll find out more about the six-week creator journalism virtual workshop and get a 10 percent discount code! 🚀

I just got back from Austin, where I had the chance to speak at the International Symposium on Online Journalism (ISOJ), a conference that’s quickly becoming one of my favorites. It’s rare to find a space that’s both rigorous and experimental, grounded in academic research but also responsive to where journalism is actually headed.

A few things stuck with me from the conversations on stage and in the hallways:

1. There’s still a lot of confusion about “news influencers”

There’s a tendency to treat creators as either competition or a threat, when in fact they’re often reaching audiences mainstream news no longer does. Finding ways to collaborate, not just coexist, feels more important than ever. One of the most heartening moments came from NPR CEO Katherine Maher, who spent most of her panel talking about her recent appearance before a House subcommittee and threats to NPR’s Federal funding, but who said something I wish more people in legacy media would say out loud about creators: “I’m glad we have new interlocutors who can take the news and make it relevant. There’s more we can do to find partners in that space.”

2. Audiences don’t necessarily want impartiality — they want clarity

There was a strong panel on trust in media, but it didn’t get specifically into how creators are shaping that conversation. Sally Lehrman from The Trust Project observed that audiences don’t expect journalists to be impartial — they expect them to be transparent. That’s true for creator journalists especially, where credibility often comes because of transparency, not neutrality.

3. The kids are (already) not listening to us

Relatedly, in her keynote Teen Vogue’s Versha Sharma said it plainly: “Of course they’d rather listen to the person on TikTok who they think is giving it to them straight.” That line echoed in my head through the rest of the conference. It’s not just about platform or format — it’s about perceived authenticity. Legacy institutions have a trust gap to overcome, especially with younger audiences who have grown up in an era of media skepticism and creator candor.

4. The influencer dynamic is shaping political media — whether or not journalists are paying attention

In a panel on White House coverage, The Atlantic’s Ashley Parker noted that “Influencers play a much bigger role on the right than they do on the left.” This isn’t just a cultural quirk. It’s a strategic reality that affects how information spreads, how narratives take hold and how audiences mobilize. If newsrooms aren’t engaging with this dynamic, they’re already behind.

5. Takeaways from my panel: “New understandings of journalism in the age of influencers”

What a pleasure to share a conversation with Center for News, Technology & Innovation Executive Director Amy Mitchell, current Nieman Berkman-Klein Fellow at Harvard and former Snapchat editorial lead Ben Reininga, top TikTok news influencer Carlos Eduardo Espina and Status author Oliver Darcy about creator model journalism and why we need to better understand and support this independent work. A few highlights:

• Amy shared data on audience perceptions — particularly the growing audience perception that anyone can create journalism.

• I presented Project C’s News Ecosystem Map, helping distinguish between “news influencers” and “creator journalists.”

• Carlos shared his incredible journey from law school student to becoming one of the biggest news voices on TikTok.

• Ben discussed his Harvard research into what turns audiences off about traditional news — and on about creator-model journalism.

• Oliver reminded us that the independent path isn’t the easy one — it requires deep commitment and clarity of purpose.

Were you at ISOJ or following along at home? Would love to hear what you took away from both the stage and off-stage convos.

the latest

• In a big picture piece that makes the case for public funding of local media, Matt Pearce praises independent creator journalists, but observes, “Your favorite creator’s YouTube channel is a single major health incident, algorithm pivot, or burnout episode from not existing anymore.”

• “Audiences—and consequently advertisers—are drifting away from news media and towards all the different kinds of content that is available online and now also via AI-powered chatbots. This is a crisis for journalism as we knew it. But it is not seen as a crisis by the public,” writes former Reuters Institute head Rasmus Kleis Nielsen in a must-read for Propsect.

• How did Substack become the de facto home for former TV talking heads like Jim Acosta, Joy Reid and Don Lemon? It’s all about the video, writes Jessica Testa in the NYT.

• For TV NewsCheck, In the Hyphen founder Fernando Hurtado writes “Why I Left A Six-Figure Job At NBC To Pursue Creator Journalism”

• Missed this one last week, so ICYMI, too: The Washington Post announced its first cohort of journalists for its new Creator Hub. All are in-house talent, though I hear there are plans to expand the hub to include outside creators.

• Co-founder Hamish McKenzie tells Digiday Substack isn’t ruling out ad sales in the future

going solo free info session

Reminder: It’s not too late to sign up for Tuesday’s free Going Solo information session, hosted by instructors Blair Hickman and Ryan Kellett at 4 p.m. ET/1 PT, stop by to find out more about our six-week creator journalism virtual workshop and get a 10 percent discount!