📣 Listen, I’m working on something BIG for the newsletter so it is taking up a TON of time right now. So there’s no lede today. Instead, scroll down for the latest, the coolest and the most useful things I found to share with you this week. And stay tuned for the BIG thing - coming soon!

the latest things

• In a wide-ranging CJR interview News Girl Lisa Remillard breaks down how she stays laser-focused on her niche (federal goverment stories): “Is this within my [purview]? Is it a story that will impact a majority of people in my audience? And is it interesting?”

• Court Watch’s Seamus Hughes is irate about his work –and that of other independent creator journalists – being taken by established news organizations without citation. He’s called out some offenders.

• Building on some recent zeitgeisty coverage and a belief that their app is the future, Substack is quietly looking to raise $50M in a new funding round, reports Eric Newcomer.

• In his sit down with Dylan Byers for Puck’s Grill Room podcast, Oliver Darcy talks about how not taking on any investors has kept Status sharp.

useful things

• Lex Roman talks to the Prison Journalism Project about how they doubled their new subscriber signup rate in just two weeks.

• U.K.-based social-first journalist and serial entrepreneur Sophia Smith Galer launched a new app, Sophiana, to help text-based journalists easily make vertical social video. Have you tried it? If so, w/b with a review.

• TikTok is hiring a Creator Manager, News responsible for “managing and growing ‘news’ (their quote mark - but why?) creators for North America.

• Via The Indicator, an essential AI toolkit for journalists with potential solves for everything from processing audio to analyzing video to extracting data from a range of sources.

cool things

• Matt Brown is hiring (again!): This time he’s looking for a reporter to join the Extra Points team to take over the writing of a new stand-alone newsletter.

🚀 What’s coming up at Project C!

Lex and I have been adding more activities to the Creator Journalist Bundle (along with some cool sessions open to everyone.) Here’s a peek at what’s coming up in the next month or so:

Thursday, July 10-Friday, July 11 | SRCCON: Journalism, tech and internet culture conference. Lex and I are facilitating a session as is Matt Kiser – and Andy Dehnart’s coming, too. Ben Reininga and Amanda Yarnell are also leading what sounds like a fascinating creator-journo-focused session. Join us all in Minneapolis.

Thursday, July 3 | Plan your winback campaign - You’ve had subscribers cancel. How many can you win back? Start crafting your strategy at this kickoff event for our July sprint! (Bundle members only)

Thursday, July 17 | Going Solo Free Instructor AMA! Join the Going Solo workshop instructors for a free, informal, no-slides conversation. We’ll answer your questions about creator-model journalism, share behind-the-scenes lessons from the workshop, and talk candidly about what it takes to succeed as an independent journalist today. (Everyone)

Thursday, July 17 | Part 2 of the winback campaign sprint - get your campaign ready to run. (Bundle members only)

Tuesday, July 22 | Your next milestone - Join Lex Roman and a group of fellow creator journalists to plan your next goal and how to get there. (Everyone)

Thursday, July 31 | Part 3 of the winback campaign sprint - Winback campaigns work and now you know how they can work for you. So why not turn your winback into an automation? (Bundle members only)

Revenue Lab is underway. Lex is looking at the impact of race and identity on revenue growth (following up on their survey) and running some experiments this summer to break through these barriers. Lex convened a group that had their first meeting last week and they’re meeting again July 1. If you’re a journalist whose racial identity could be impacting your revenue, let Lex know if you’d like to join the conversation!

👉️ Join the Creator Journalist Bundle to get access to all of the events above, the THRIVING Project C Slack community and the just-dropped guide to competitive set research. 🚀