In early April, Lex Roman and I made a bet: that the independent journalists navigating the creator economy didn’t just need just tools. They needed each other.

So we pulled our networks together to launch something new: The Creator Journalist Bundle. For one price, members would get a premium subscription to Lex’s Journalists Pay Themselves newsletter, access to their Paid Sub Playbook, invites to members-only events – and entry into the newly opened Project C Slack, a space that had previously been reserved for alumni of the Going Solo workshop.

Two months later, we’ve welcomed 63 members. The pace feels just right. Growth has been steady enough to spark real energy, but intimate enough to keep the culture strong. What’s surprised us most isn’t just the number – it’s how deeply people are showing up for each other. The Slack isn’t just a channel; it’s become an office, a creative braintrust and a community of co-workers.

When I was studying creator-model journalism during my Sulzberger Fellowship last year, one theme came up again and again: loneliness. Independent journalists told me how hard it was to lose the casual collaborations of newsroom life – the hallway edits, the gut-checks, the debates about story framing or sponsorship ethics. They missed the spark of having people who “got it.”

That’s exactly what this community is becoming.

We have people covering energy policy, Puerto Rican energy sustainability, Portland grocery prices, the federal court docket, the business of college sports, the Trump administration, home decor trends, data viz journalism, reality TV, LGBTQ+ culture, Swiss culture, internet culture, culture (!), tech, media law, business advice for women, public health, climate resilience, misinformation, DC news, LA News and so much more.

In just the past few weeks, we’ve seen lively, generous conversations around everything from choosing a newsletter platform (ask Lex) to segmenting audiences, to finding discounts on creator tools. But we’ve also seen things we didn’t expect: members crowdsourcing hires for a growing team, sharing tips on how to land and nail local TV interviews, or comparing notes on navigating the creator space as LGBTQ journalists. And people are showing up fully – not just as journalists, but as whole humans.

“As someone was was laid off recently and LOVES connecting with my colleagues and peers, the Project C Slack has been a huge win for me,” says Bryan Vance, who launched the rocket ship that is Stumptown Savings this spring. “I've already met people like who helped me figure out a crowdfunding strategy, and who co-learned that along with me. And someone who is now writing TWO guest posts for Stumptown Savings. And another member who I'm also cooking up some collaborations with. And I've got great feedback and insights. I'm finding it to be a great replacement for a workplace Slack, full of people who are game to share knowledge and insights. It's now the top Slack channel in my right rail.”

More connection is happening outside the channels, too. Members have spun up a Friday accountability Zoom. Two journalists (Matt Pearce and Andrea Gutierrez) met up in person in L.A. We’re starting to sketch out training sessions and new offerings, but the energy is still very much community-led. That feels important. It mirrors the space we’re all navigating – entrepreneurial, collaborative and self-determined.

How did we do it? We made the space. We put the word out to our networks. We curated, and continue to curate, members. We want to ensure we’re the right community for you and you the right community member for us. We are adaptable and open to this space growing organically. We’re also paying attention to needs so we can keep serving this group even more with new resources and opportunities. Lex introduced explicit norms that define how we show up and treat each other. We make sure we celebrate each other’s wins and are there to support each other when someone in having a tough time.

It’s working.

“This community pushed me from just fantasizing about starting my own newsletter to actually starting one,” said Going Solo alum Julie H.

“ It helps me see that I'm far from alone,” said TTRPG Insider’s Chris Hutton, “And that we're all struggling and succeeding in this weirdly complicated creator economy, even in all stages of growth and monetization.”

“It's motivating to see how much progress people are making as writers,” said LaToya Allen. “I've learned so much that I use in my newsletter.”

“I'm just glad to have people who doing things similarly to me, said The Cameron Journal’s Cameron Cowan. “I've been working alone for most of my career.”

If the first two months are any indication, we’re building something durable, something that fills the gap between independence and isolation and replaces it with momentum, support and a shared sense of possibility.

Here’s to the next two months — and the next two years. 🎉 

Sound like a space you should explore? Join the community by upgrading to the Creator Journalism Bundle right here, right now!

the latest

• Is coverage of internet culture dead? No. But mainstream outlets are deprioritizing it in favor of coverage of the tech elite and AI, writes Kate Lindsay. Luckily, a battalion of indie writers – Kat Tenbarge, Ryan Broderick, Taylor Lorenz, Caitlin Dewey – are stepping into the breach.

• The Washington Post unveiled plans to broaden its Opinion umbrella. A new program called “Ripple,” writes Benjamin Mullin in the NY Times, will host and promote outside opinion content – Substacker Matt Yglesias was mentioned – on The Post’s website and app but outside its paywall. A next phase (or further ripple) will introduce an AI writing assistant to help untrained writers to submit columns for carriage, too.

• More than 50 people are making north of $1 million/year on Substack, per CEO Chris Best. Boy, would I love to see who’s on that list.

• Simon Owens is out with an oral early history of Vox Video that will be of interest to superfans of YouTube pioneers Johnny Harris, Joss Fong, Cleo Abram, Phil Edwards, Sam Ellis and Christophe Haubursin.

• The Cronkite School at ASU announced a $10.5 million investment from the Knight Foundation to build a Center for the Future of News to serve as “a national hub for research, experimentation and practical solutions to the most urgent challenges in journalism.” Cronkite School Dean Battinto Batts: “As just one example, we’re seeing single-person operations launching their own podcasts, newsletters or blogs, where they’re building their own audience. I’d say that’s healthy for journalism and a more democratized version of journalism because we have many more voices.” 👀 

• Bluesky has become a go-to platform for left-leaning “news infuencers,” per Pew’s latest study, with the number of “news influencers” on Bluesky nearly doubling after the 2024 election result.

• It turns out local news isn’t niche-y enough. Jeff Inman writes about the rise of hyper-local, hyper-niche outlets covering neighborhoods or even specific topics in a community, like biking in Des Moines.

• Emily Sundberg’s Feed Me is also beloved in the U.K. Luckily, The Observer is asking the tough question: “But why are so many people outside the five boroughs keen to read about a second new cinema opening in the Hamptons?”

• You love to see it: Indie creators growing their teams. Jessica Valenti’s Abortion Every Day announced the addition of former Jezebel reporter Kylie Cheung to the team, while Ryan Broderick brought on Cates Holderness as Garbage Day’s first managing editor.

• More J-School thoughts: Sophia Smith Galer talks to Hank Green about a range of things for her BBC podcast, but in this clip posted to LinkedIn, they consider why journalism school is, as they say, dying: “Because creators without any media training are looked at as more authentic than those with media training.”

  

know things

• Sometimes indie creator journalism isn’t a newsletter or a YouTube channel. Sometimes it’s a zine.

• The notion that Substack is maybe not now what it once set out to be has migrated across the Atlantic.

do something cool

Listen, come to ONA. OK? It’s always super cool, but going to be particularly cool this year because they’ve got lots of already announced great programming that will be of particular interest to journalists working independently in the creator economy – or curious about making that leap. We’ll be reprising the Saturday Going Solo workshop and look forward to seeing you in New Orleans!

PS. It’s happening. Maybe not in this newsletter today, but I think Joy Mayer has finally convinced me to move over to team Oxford comma. I am surprised, chagrined, and nervous.