Program

‘Context Creator:’ How local content creators are adding journalistic rigor to their work

At the Philadelphia Creator Summit, creators and newsrooms shared lessons about a hybrid approach to covering local news

By Jared Council

April 29, 2026

Hybrid news delivery was a key theme at The Lenfest Institute for Journalism’s Philadelphia Creators Summit on April 24, which brought together program fellows, Philadelphia media makers, and entrepreneurs for a day-long discussion about the intersection of journalism and the creator economy. 

The Summit was the culminating event for the inaugural 2026 Philadelphia Media Founders Exchange News Creators Network fellowship, a four-month incubator that paired four Philadelphia news outlets each with at least two local content creators on a reporting project, the results of which were shared at the Summit. 

But the convening also featured conversations about the intersection of creators and news with leading media executives and entrepreneurs — including Revolt and Offscript Worldwide CEO Detavio Samuels and podcast founder and host David Shands. They emphasized that the world has changed, and that anyone in the business of media must change with it.  

“Nobody in traditional media is winning,” said Samuels. “So who’s winning? Where do I see all the money flowing to? All the money is flowing to … sports, streaming, social, creators, and then AI.” 

“So, I think that for those of us who are not in those spaces, the reality is you just have to evolve or die,” he added.  

Here are some of the other takeaways from the Summit: 

Context creators: When creative appeal and journalistic rigor combine 

Terrill “Ya Fav Trashman” Haigler said he had been making content about Philadelphia’s waste issues for about six years after his experience as a sanitation worker. While he always strived for accuracy, partnering with a local newsroom introduced him to more rigorous approaches to information gathering and sharing, he said. 

“I don’t even call myself a content creator anymore. I call myself a context creator,” Haigler said, using a phrase coined by program lead Jos Duncan-Asé. “Because of this cohort, I’ve really learned that there’s a value in deep diving and giving the community real hard information so that they can better their lives.” 

Haigler and chef-turned-content-creator Brou Quinn were paired with Green Philly, which covers environmental issues in Philadelphia. Their partnership from February to late April helped Green Philly’s Instagram account grow to 24,381 followers, a 10% increase. Green Philly also saw gains in views and organic engagement. 

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Chelsea Cox, an independent creator who was paired with tech-focused news outlet Technical.ly Philly, said one of her biggest revelations being in the cohort was learning more about journalistic standards, including the importance of citing sources, fact-checking, and bringing strategy to storytelling. Some of Cox’s work, including her articles and videos about how the City of Philadelphia is using AI, have sparked broader conversations and landed her interviews on other platforms to discuss her work. 

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Newsrooms learned their share as well. For instance, Inti Media’s Founder and Executive Director Gabriela Watson-Burkett said her outlet benefited from learning the importance of set design and comedy from the two creators it worked with. Technical.ly Editorial Director Danya Henninger said the fellowship reinforced the notion that creators collectively serve as an important last mile of news delivery. 

“We’re going to do the text articles,” Henninger said. “Those are documentation. Those are like the first draft of history. But where are people actually getting that information? It’s from the creators.” 

You should be in the game with creators. Here’s how. 

Media makers and leaders would be wise to recognize that the “genie is already out of the bottle” when it comes to creators and AI, said Samuels, CEO of Revolt and Offscript Worldwide. And, if they aren’t already, they should find ways to get in the game with each sooner than later. 

“We live in an era where the only media people trust, from a news perspective, is citizen journalism,” Samuels said. “If I’m in news and traditional media, I’m trying to find the dopest creators and instilling them [with] the rigor that’s missing. That’s the opportunity that I would see in the marketplace.” 

Samuels said that publishers could start with identifying the five or 10 top local creators in key topic areas — like food, sports, or travel — and seek to partner with them. If budget is a constraint, he said, find ways to work with them that don’t involve significant capital, such as funding the creator’s costs of content production for a year or offering in-house resources for a collaborative series. 

“[You can] make your media company look bigger, louder, have a voice that people pay attention to,” Samuels said. 

Creators and newsrooms need a plan to make money. Here’s the landscape today. 

Podcasting, YouTube, and social platforms such as Instagram and TikTok can all serve as revenue streams, whether you’re a creator or a newsroom. 

The key is determining your core audience, establishing a content vision, and understanding the revenue rules of the platforms you want to play on, several speakers said at the Summit. 

YouTube Strategic Partner Manager Krishna Mahtani said that accounts start generating ad revenue once they have at least 1,000 subscribers in the past 90 days or 4,000 public watch hours over a year. To qualify for audience-based revenue—like channel memberships—the threshold is three public videos, 500 subscribers or 1,000 watch hours. 

The most successful accounts tend to be those that prioritize quality and consistency over quantity, he said. 

“The recipe really is, have a clear mission, make compelling content, which leads to viewers coming to you to watch your content, and that leads to your growth in subscribers,” he said. 

Community building is another way of creating revenue. Mahtani pointed to former CNN host Don Lemon, who runs subscriber-only live events, where his followers can engage directly with him.  

Shands, founder of the Podcast Summit and host of Social Proof, emphasized that digital content can be a perpetual income-producing asset. For instance, one of his podcast episodes from 2021 generated $35,000 in total ad revenue since it was published — including $40 in the last 90 days.  

“Tell me something that you did five years ago, 2000 days ago, that paid you $40 in the last 90 days,” he said. 

Shands said there are two important components of making money with online audiences. First, he said, create an avatar of your target audience and speak to them in every piece of content. Second, he said, create some kind of product or service that resonates with that audience and can create an income stream. 

“The podcast should support an audience. The audience will support the business. The business will support the podcast,” Shands said. “In this way, you can have 100 views and make more than someone who has 100,000 views that doesn’t have this system in place. You have to have something to offer.”