10 Ways to View the Creator Economy
How journalists see the new landscape of independents
2020 has been a big year for journalists launching their own newsletters, podcasts, YouTube channels and other products. It’s not an easy path, and many are looking around for lessons and models.
This fall, to serve this growing community, the Newmark Graduate of Journalism’s Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program became one of the first academic programs to focus on helping independent producers sustainably build and grow their niche journalism products. For those interested in exploring this emerging ecosystem, here are 10 stories about the creator economy that showcase how independent journalists are forging their own paths.
Pandemic spurs journalists to go it alone via email [Axios]
“I think many people in the journalism world saw how quickly their business fortunes can change during COVID and decided they would rather run their own business as opposed to be dependent on another businesses’ ebbs and flows.”
— Alex Kantrowitz, Buzzfeed reporter, who now writes the Big Technology newsletter
Reporters are leaving newsrooms for newsletters, their own ‘mini media empire’ [The Washington Post]
“Slowly, over the course of a career in this industry, I think you start to realize that there is a line between when the publication is benefiting you as a writer and when you are benefiting it.” — Emily Atkin, who left her job as a reporter at The New Republic to launch Heated, a Substack newsletter about the climate crisis
Journalists Are Leaving the Noisy Internet for Your Email Inbox [The New York Times]
“People were creating these spaces for themselves to be goofy and a little protected from the turbulence of just throwing yourself at the entire internet.” — Edith Zimmerman, former editor at The Hairpin, who now writes the newsletter Drawing Links, which features features non-fiction comics about her life
Newsletters could be the next (and only) hope to save the media [Wired UK]
“I think writers have always realized their own value; there just weren’t a lot of options in the post-2008 recession for how to make good on it…So I’m trying to find something akin to stability, which is certainly a shared sentiment amongst the other journalists I know.” — Anne Helen Peterson, who left her job at Buzzfeed News to focus on her newsletter, Culture Study
The Passion Economy and the Future of Work [Andreessen Horowitz]
“New digital platforms enable people to earn a livelihood in a way that highlights their individuality. These platforms give providers greater ability to build customer relationships, increased support in growing their businesses, and better tools for differentiating themselves from the competition. In the process, they’re fueling a new model of internet-powered entrepreneurship.” — Li Jin, author of the “Unbundling work from Employment” newsletter on Substack
From newsroom to newsletter: How local journalists are DIYing important coverage via email [Nieman Lab]
“I remember meeting up with somebody who had recently subscribed to the newsletter and I said, ‘Thanks, I appreciate your support,’ and she corrected me and said, ‘I’m not being generous. I believe it adds value and it’s a product. I’m buying it.” — Jack Craver, who covers city politics in Austin, TX for his newsletter, The Austin Politics Newsletter
She built a business around helping podcasters solve one core problem [The Business of Content]
“They’re grabbing listeners wherever they can — whether that’s by being a guest on another show, through Instagram, or through content that is shared from their podcast website.” — Jaclyn Schiff, who created Podreacher, which turns the content of podcasts into blog posts
Journalists Getting Paid: How Online Platforms Are Boosting Income for Writers [Trust, Media, and Democracy]
“That work demonstrates their voice, worldview, and quality of thought to the largest possible audience, and it gives the largest number of people the opportunity to fall in love — over time, those who fall in love will pay to subscribe to hear more from you.” — Hamish McKenzie, co-founder of Substack
The New Model Media Star Is Famous Only to You [The New York Times]
“One of the things I find most heartening in these unequal times, though, is the creation of some new space for a middle class of journalists and entertainers — the idea that you can make a living, if not a killing, by working hard for a limited audience.”— Ben Smith, New York Times media columnist
The Next Media Opportunity: Talent, Reputation and Lessons from Record Labels [Medium]
What this shows is that talent who wish to control their own direction or have their own ideas outside of a traditional set-up are able to go out and do so. With that, money — and customers — will eventually follow.— Jarrod Dicker, VP of commercial technology and development at The Washington Post
Elise Czajkowski is a writer/editor who regularly writes about the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism’s executive and professional education programs. Based in New York, she was previously a Tow Knight Fellow in Entrepreneurial Journalism at the Newmark J-School. She launched a non-profit called Sidewalk News, which uses outdoor advertising to distribute local news.
