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When Samantha Ragland first began experimenting with influencer collaborations at the Palm Beach Post, they weren’t even called influencers yet.

“It was so long ago we were doing this on Snapchat,” she said. “We had to get a custom contract drafted. We had to bring the trusted messengers, which at that time were local musicians and coffee shops — to take over our account. We were really lucky to have a team of leaders at the post who were just like, ‘Yeah, maybe we should try that.’ They just were really good at greenlighting experimentation.”

Today, as the VP of Journalism Strategy at the American Press Institute, Ragland is bringing those early lessons full circle. She’s helping local newsrooms rethink what influence looks like — and how to tap into it. Drawing on bold experiments from a 2024 election season cohort, she’s now leading the charge with a playbook for newsrooms ready to collaborate, build trust and meet communities where they are.

From Snap Experiments to Strategic Collaborations

Back at the Palm Beach Post, Ragland was tasked with building a digital storytelling team that could connect with digital-first audiences. That team’s approach — platform-native content, collaborative storytelling and authentic community voices — foreshadowed much of what the news industry is trying to adopt today.

“We realized early that you don’t need millions of followers to have influence in your community,” Ragland said.

We’re used to hearing “influencer” and thinking of beauty TikTokers or viral creators — but in this context, influence is about credibility, consistency and deep community ties, not follower counts or algorithm darlings.

Some of the most trusted people in a community may not want to be called influencers at all. They’re pastors, nonprofit leaders, neighborhood organizers — people who already have a consistent line of communication with their communities.

Despite racking up plenty of good lessons, these early efforts weren’t always easy to sustain.

“We had capacity issues. We had to track [metrics] by hand,” she said. But the seeds were planted.

Bringing Local Influencers Into the Election Ecosystem

Fast forward to 2024: Ragland, now at API, pitched an idea rooted in her earlier work — what if local newsrooms collaborated with local influencers to share trustworthy election information? – as one of several projects funded by the Knight Election Hub.

The idea landed and what followed was a cohort of six newsrooms across the country testing influencer partnerships. Some experiments were purely promotional — helping drive traffic to explainers or events. Others went deeper: influencers co-created content, helped translate reporting for their communities and gathered questions and feedback.

But Ragland is the first to admit: this work challenges newsroom norms.

“For folks not directly involved in the projects, this work is incredibly scary,” she said. “They don’t understand why it’s necessary.”

That’s why API was intentional in its approach. Each newsroom designated a single editor to manage the influencer partnership who was coached to treat influencers not as an outsider, but like a collaborator.

“One of the things that was most constructive was that the newsrooms had a single point of contact with the influencer. So the influencer was essentially treated almost as a staff or a freelancer.” Ragland said. “It created a much stronger relationship, a stronger collaboration with greater benefit.”

It also surfaced a common challenge: communication within the newsrooms. People often sit with new ideas for months, working with a small team, and by the time a project is announced to the wider newsroom, people can feel surprised or blindsided, which can breed fear.

To change that, Ragland says, the industry needs to get better at brokering internal information.

“What should strategic communication look like around a new initiative?” she said. “How are you having that communication even before you do a project.”

Toward a Collaborative Future

The upcoming second newsroom cohort API is organizing will expand the types of collaborations possible — from marketing to explanatory journalism, community listening and even editorial co-creation. And this time, they’re requiring all funding to be spent directly on the influencer’s time and content — not staff time.

“We don't have enough examples of these messengers truly being embedded in the editorial strategies of the newsrooms,” Ragland said.

Across the country, Ragland sees signs of what might come next: contributor networks, ambassador programs, even “influencer labs” embedded in newsrooms.

She points to examples like Factchequeado, which is building a Latino influencer network to combat disinformation, or We Are North Nashville, which tithes part of its budget to local elders who act as a living archive. “That’s influence,” she says. “That’s care. That’s journalism as service.”

She’s also quick to say that none of this is easy. “People want clarity. They want to know it will work. But we’re still early in the game.”

Still, Ragland believes this is a new opportunity for local journalism to connect more organically with the communities where they’re embedded — one that requires humility, creativity and a willingness to share power.

⸻

Samantha Ragland’s Top Tips for Working with Local Influencers

1. Don’t wait until you launch to educate your newsroom. Start sharing examples, best practices and research before you pitch the idea internally.

2. Assign a single point of contact. Treat influencers like freelancers — one editor guiding the project leads to clearer expectations and better outcomes.

3. Choose people who are already trusted. Influence isn’t about follower count. It’s about connection, care and consistency.

4. Collaborate, don’t delegate. This isn’t outsourcing — it’s a partnership. Include influencers in brainstorming, scripting and feedback.

5. Be honest about the learning curve. It’s new. You’ll get questions. Build room for experimentation and transparency.

This is part one of a two-part series on how local newsrooms are using influencer strategies to grow trust and reach. These early experiments are working. Next week: Kaila White Roberts on how MPR is making social video stick.

the latest

• Huge congratulations 🎉 to Joss Fong and Adam Cole, the duo behind the YouTube explainer channel Howtown, on winning ICFJ’s inaugural News Creator Award for Excellence in Independent Video Journalism. They were among eight honorees recognized globally for their outstanding work.

• Fast Company launched a creator network 🔒️ , starting with eight newsletter writers whose will write original work for the publisher’s site in a deal that feels a lot like freelancing but with the ability to push people back to their independent newsletters.

• The NYT is doing a bang up job of covering former TV talking heads turned media entrepreneurs.

• I missed this in early March, but went back and it was worth a listen. Taylor Lorenz talks to content creator Ophie Dokie about a whole other sprawling network of (quasi-) news sources: the misogyny slop ecosystem. 😱 

  

platform stuff

• Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie describes the rise of “chaos media” — a landscape where economic power remains concentrated and “the majority of the rewards go to the platform owners.” He warns that even in this new era, creators often find their audience relationships “mediated and controlled by advertisers and the platform itself.” Meanwhile, the erstwhile newsletter purveyor announced it is rolling out a TikTok-style scrollable video feed. Hmm.

• Following the launch of their Media Collective earlier this year, newsletter platform beehiiv debuted a Local News Accelerator and hints at a yet-to-debut local news page. [Note: I sit on the unpaid advisory board for the beehiiv Media Collective.]

• Creators, including Garbage Day’s Ryan Broderick, tell Digiday they’re making more 💰️ after leaving Substack for other platforms. Broderick says his revenue is up 20-25% year-over-year after switching from Substack to beehiiv.

• YouTube Shorts announced a handful of new features for creators, including an improved video editor and templates with more features, including attribution for creators of any original content you use in them.

• President Trump again gave TikTok a reprieve – extending the deadline for a potential sale for another 75 days before facing a potential U.S. ban. Meanwhile, reports Kaya Yurieff 🔒️ at The Information, Instagram continues to try to lure creators with bonuses and more features.

do something cool

• Nominations are now open for the Online News Association Awards, with categories including Digital Video Storytelling, Excellence in Newsletters and a brand-new award for Innovation in Revenue Strategy — perfect fits for the kind of innovation creator journalists are leading. More details and the submission form at the link above.

• The Marshall Project released a reporting toolkit to help journalists investigate deaths in local jails and prisons. It includes step-by-step guidance, context on the Death in Custody Reporting Act, expert sources and a free illustration for use in your reporting.

• I’ll be at The Newsletter Conference in NYC on May 2. Hope to see you there!