One year ago this month, I sent the first Project C newsletter into the world.

At the time, it felt like a leap. I had left a perfectly good full-time job at Vox to bet on something I knew was happening and felt way more important than it was getting credit for in the journalism industry: a growing group of journalists stepping outside traditional institutions to build independent, mission-driven media projects of their own.

I launched Project C to chart that shift — and to support it. Something about all of this felt familiar. As one of The Washington Post’s first bloggers, I had been part of a similar dynamic shift. Despite pulling in HUGE audience numbers, the work I did was seen as less real, less important than the work being done by “real” reporters with newsprint bylines. That pissed me off in 2006, and it still does. Especially now, when I hear creator journalists dismissed as somehow being at odds with “real” journalism. (Never mind that audiences – especially Gen Z and Alpha audiences are making a clear choice.)

I had ideas for how I could support these pioneers. I spent most of the first half of 2024 as a Sulzberger Fellow, immersing myself in the world of journalists who were launching their own independent channels. I wanted to find out what made the independent path seem like the right step, how they were building their businesses and, conversely, what felt hard and what made some hesitate or never reach escape velocity because they didn’t see a clear way forward.

When I talked to reporters, columnists, video creators and podcasters making this shift, three reasons were repeated over and over:

• Conflicting missions: Working within newsrooms felt restrictive. The mission-driven content they wanted to make was at odds with larger editorial – and increasingly – revenue priorities.

• Upside: Journalists who were rising as stars within organizations weren’t finding openness to getting a share of the profits of the revenue they were helping to grow.

• Job security: With round after round of layoffs chipping away at newsrooms, going solo just didn’t seem like a bigger risk anymore.

What they needed, too, fell into three main buckets:

• Small business support: How to even know about and handle all the back office and administrative stuff that goes into a small biz. Where to find healthcare, legal support, liability insurance. How to track expenses.

• Brand-building help: When you are a newsroom of one, how do you feed the beast reliably? How do you grow an audience or get attention for your work? What newsletter platform makes sense? Are there contract editors, fact checkers, producers and others out there I can work with?

• Finding community: Journalists are pack animals. We crave intellectual community and a group of equally curious minds to be in conversation and collaboration with.

I wanted to help solve for all of it. But in May 2024, with no funding and no proof of concept, it felt daunting as hell. I was, like the journalists I wanted to support, facing all of the same fears and needing all of the same stuff. I came out of Sulzberger with an idea to launch an accelerator, but I needed more.

So I started with one step. I launched this newsletter.

In the course of reporting it out over the last year, I met or reconnected with an amazing group of people who have become my go-to community. We connect, collaborate and get curious together. It is not an overstatement to say how lucky I am for the opportunity to work alongside people like:

• Blair Hickman, my longtime Vox colleague who has been an even closer collaborator and friend since we both left Vox Media and who always helps me see how to make our dreams a reality.

• Lex Roman, the dynamic brain behind Journalists Pay Themselves who has become a go-to partner in community-building and getting me past my own innate journalism industry biases.

• Ryan Kellett, who I met briefly years ago at WaPo and who reached out last fall with a wild idea to teach journalists how to launch their own brands at ONA that has grown into Going Solo.

• Caitlin Dewey, another former Postie and author of Links I Would Gchat You If We Were Friends, who I long fan-girled over, but now get to work with on Going Solo.

• Joy Mayer, whose work at Trusting News is an inspiration and sees the importance of widening our apertures to bring creator model journalists into the frame.

There are so many more people I’m grateful to now count as fellow travelers in this space: Matt Kiser, Justin Bank, Phillip Smith, Sam Ragland, Allison Rockey, Dan Oshinsky, David Grant, Mollie Muchna. The list is ever-growing and I’m thankful for every one of you.

The magic of organic growth

What started as a newsletter has become something bigger.

The newsletter led to Going Solo, the six-week workshop we’ve now done twice with more to come. We’ve taught dozens of journalists through the workshop, helping them build sustainable content strategies, reach their audiences, and earn real revenue. We’ve seen bold independent journalists like K Kaufmann launch E/lectrify, folks like Bryan Vance and Jillian Melero find community to support their ambitious projects and are privy to so many more pre-launch projects that we can’t wait to see debut.

The growing roster of creators we work with led to the launch of a private (and growing!) Slack community in partnership with Lex Roman that has become a source of jobs, ideas, feedback and solidarity for creator-model journalists (join us!). We’ve forged partnerships, experimented with new formats and collectively taken on platforms to ask for improvements – all while having a ton of fun in what has become our legit virtual work space.

In the past year, I’ve raised awareness about this space. The News Ecosystem Map has been shared around the world. I’ve been on or moderated panels at a slew of journalism conferences, advocating for the recognition – and funding – this work deserves. I even got quoted in Vanity Fair, for god sakes. 🤣 

big picture

So, what have I learned in the year since hitting “send” on Issue One?

1. Creator-model journalism is real—and it’s growing fast

The journalists showing up for this work aren’t just dabbling in side projects. They’re building full-on businesses and beating the odds. They’re navigating newsletters, video, audio, memberships, sponsorships and more – not because it’s trendy, but because they believe it’s the best way to reach and serve their communities. And many of them are doing it while flying solo.

But doing it alone doesn’t mean doing it unsupported. I’ve seen what happens when we create spaces where these journalists can meet each other, share hard-won lessons and work through the messy middle together. That’s the heart of what Project C is becoming.

2. Traditional journalism still matters, but it’s not enough

Over the past year, layoffs have continued across both nonprofit and for-profit newsrooms. Trust has continued to erode. And we’ve seen a flood of low-quality, AI-generated content flooding social platforms, making it even harder for audiences to find sources they can believe in.

That’s why I believe so deeply in ethical, fact-based, independent news made by real people. Creator-model journalism isn’t a replacement for traditional outlets – but it is becoming one of the most promising frontiers for rebuilding trust, reaching underserved audiences and experimenting with new models that just might work.

We need both kinds of journalism. And we need to build bridges between them.

3. People want connection, not just content

One of the biggest surprises this year has been how much the community side of Project C has taken off. We launched the Slack as an afterthought — a place for Going Solo grads to stay in touch. It’s now where job leads are posted, emotional support is offered, contracts are dissected and new projects are born.

The goodwill and spirit of collaboration in the creator journalism space is heartening. This space has reminded me of something vital: people don’t just want information. They want connection. They want feedback, recognition and encouragement from people who get it. That’s something our institutions often forget — and something independent journalists are especially well-positioned to offer.

4. Growth isn’t always up and to the right

Just like the creators I work with, year one has been a learn-while-you-build-the-plane kind of ride. There have been very high highs and some anxiety-ridden insomniac nights when I worried about how I’m going to put my kid through college. I moved from Substack to beehiiv. I’m still insecure about my .biz domain and spiral at least once a month about whether my entire future depends on landing the right .com. (the owner of projectc.com wants $20K for the domain. LOL.)

But if I remind myself not to be buffeted by daily winds and hold true to something I learned from Caitlin Dewey (quarterly accountability check-ins with myself), I find that things are looking up. But no one is doing it for me. Just like no one is doing it for the creators, like Phil Edwards, leaving W-2 employment to ask their audiences to fund their work.

What’s next

In Year 2 of Project C, I’m focused on systemic change. That means expanding the Slack. Offering more structured support and training. And creating resources – like the News Ecosystem Map and a forthcoming Top 100 Creator Journalists list 🔥 — that can help the rest of the industry better understand what’s happening in this space. That means organizing to better advocate for ourselves and continue to be responsive to what this growing crop of journalists need to build sustainable businesses.

It also means continuing to push for philanthropic and institutional support. The future of news won’t be built on advertising CPMs and clickbait. It will be built by people – and it will thrive if, as Dick Tofel recently wrote, we invest in those people.

And I’ll keep writing this newsletter. Because it helps me make sense of what’s happening. Because it’s the best way I know to stay connected to this community. And because after a year of doing this, I can say with confidence: the questions we’re asking here matter.

Thank you so fracking much for being here 💗. If you’ve forwarded an issue, replied to a post, joined the Slack, taken a course or even just read silently: THANK YOU. This work is only possible because people like you believe there’s something worth building.

Here’s to what we’ll make in Year 2.

-Liz

My top 5 favorite posts from year one:

1. Who gets to be called a journalist in 2025: This was my first attempt at expressing the angst about zero-sum definitions of creator journalism.

2. From 'Trad News' to AI: The evolving journalism landscape: This was the launch of the news ecosystem map and put a finer point on what I was trying to make in that first post. Creator-model journalism is a step in evolution, not a planet killer.

3. Meet the force behind MPR’s creator-y Gen Z strategy: The kind of work Kaila White is doing in Minnesota is a model for how we can build those bridges between trad news and creators.

4. Survey results: Journalism creators want shared standards: Love this one because it marked the beginning of a deeper relationship with Trusting News, but also because it made the point that creator journalists aren’t slop peddlers.

5. For Gen Z, it's all about 'timepass' mode: If you find yourself reasoning your way out of paying attention to audience consumption habits, please bookmark and re-read as needed.

P.S. I’d love to know: What resonated most for you this past year? And what should I write about next? Just hit reply.