Guide

Identifying credible local journalism creators

A guide from the Creator Journalism Trust and Credibility Toolkit with prompts, tools, and checklists for mapping journalism creators in your region.

October 28, 2025

This resource is part of the Creator Journalism Trust and Credibility Toolkit from the Knight Communities Network, Project C, and Trusting News, which helps funders identify — and fund — creator journalists in their local ecosystem. Find more information here, or reach out to Project C and Trusting News.  

Why this matters

Local news ecosystems are healthiest when they include not just legacy newsrooms, but also the independent journalists and creators whom audiences are increasingly turning to for trusted news and information. By supporting creator-model journalists, funders can invest in the whole ecosystem – ensuring communities have access to credible, relevant information across the platforms and formats where they already spend time.

Traditional outlets remain vital, but they don’t tell the whole story. Creator-model journalists –  who operate independently on newsletters, podcasts, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or blogs – are filling urgent gaps, often serving audiences that legacy newsrooms overlook or have lost. Supporting them means investing in a richer, more resilient information ecosystem.

Defining the difference: creators vs. influencers

It’s important to distinguish between creator-model journalists and local influencers: 

• Creator-model journalists practice journalism: They provide fact-based information, original reporting, context, and analysis for their communities. They build direct relationships with audiences while upholding principles of fairness, accuracy, and transparency.
• Community influencers, as defined by the American Press Institute, play a different role. They are trusted connectors within a community who may or may not practice journalism but can be strong partners in distribution and engagement.

Both groups are valuable in strengthening local information ecosystems. But this guide focuses on creator-model journalists, who operate outside of traditional newsrooms yet are producing journalism as their primary mission.

How to find the creator-model journalists in your community

Funders and local Press Forward chapters can do a quick “ecosystem scan” to surface creator journalists in their region. Here are some practical steps:

1. Ask your community directly

Surveys and interviews are simple but powerful. Ask your family, friends, local college classes, residents: Who do you follow for local information? Which newsletters land in your inbox? Which TikTok or YouTube channels do you watch for news about this community? Also, ask community partners, libraries, or local advocacy groups which newsletters they subscribe to. 

We’ve included some sample questions below to use in a survey or in one-on-one or focus group conversations. 

2. Use ChatGPT

Prompt example (customize for your city/region):

“List independent creator journalists in [CITY/REGION] who publish newsletters, podcasts, or run channels on TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram, and who regularly provide news, analysis, or reporting.”

This won’t give you a definitive list, but it’s a fast way to generate leads and examples to investigate further.

3. Invest in a tool like Tubular Labs

Tubular Labs is a media intelligence platform that tracks video content across YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. It allows you to identify local creators by geography, topic, and audience size. This kind of tool can help you spot journalists who are reaching significant audiences outside of traditional outlets.

4. Search the major platforms

• YouTube/TikTok/Instagram: Try searching for your city/region name with keywords like “news,” “update,” or “explained.”
• Twitter/Bluesky/Mastodon: Scan hashtags tied to your city.
• Newsletters: Search platforms like Substack, Beehiiv, or Ghost for your city or region name. Local Facebook groups may also surface newsletter publishers.

5. Get help

Organizations like Project C (Disclosure: Project C helped create this guide) and Adriana Lacy Consulting conduct ecosystem scans and can support journalism funders in identifying, mapping, and evaluating creator journalists in your community. Partnering with us can help ensure your funding reaches both established outlets and the new wave of journalists reshaping the local information landscape.

▶️ Use the spreadsheet template linked here and above to start curating your list. 

Template: Local creator journalism ecosystem index Template: Local creator journalism ecosystem index

Evaluating credibility

Once you’ve surfaced potential creator journalists, evaluate them against the Trust & Credibility framework and checklist. This framework highlights “green flags,” “yellow flags,” and “red flags” for evaluating whether a creator is practicing journalism responsibly.

Access the framework Access the framework

Review the checklist Review the checklist

Bottom line: By investing in creator-model journalists alongside legacy institutions, funders can strengthen the full spectrum of local news and information, ensuring communities are better informed, more connected, and more resilient.

Appendix: Sample survey/interview questions

Make a copy of this survey in Google Forms Make a copy of this survey in Google Forms

About information sources

1. When you want to know what’s happening in your community, to who or where do you turn first?

2. Are there newsletters, podcasts, YouTube channels, TikTok/Instagram accounts, or other sources you regularly follow for local information? Please list them.

3. Which of these sources do you trust most – and why?

About format and platforms

4. What places do you find yourself most often getting local information from? Email newsletters, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, podcasts, local print, etc.?

5. Are there any new places where you’re seeing more local information?

About voices and coverage

6. Are there individuals or small teams producing local information who stand out to you as especially useful or trustworthy?

7. Are there things the local news gets wrong about people like you or about things in your life? Are there social media accounts, online influencers or newsletters that do a better job covering those things?

About influence and reach

8. Have you ever shared or recommended local content from online accounts to friends, family, or neighbors? If yes, from whom?

9. Which people or organizations seem to have the biggest following or influence in your community? This might include a news organization, a prominent figure in the community, or someone with an online following.

Open-ended

10. Who else should we know about? Are there accounts, influencers, newsletters, or organizations we should check out that are doing important work in your community?