Meet the future of journalism

The surge started in 2020, with 15 creators launching that year. Another 24 launched between 2021–2025, confirming that most of the movement is post-2020. Only five entries predate 2019, showing just how recent and fast-growing this space is.

While we weren’t able to get income data for all 50 creators on the list, we did get a sense of a wide range of income from those who did answer the income question on our nominee survey:

• $0–$50K/year: 1 journalist

• $51K–$100K/year: 4 journalists

• $101K–$200K/year: 2 journalists

• $201K–$500K/year: 2 journalists

• More than $501K/year: 7 journalists

Reader revenue dominates the list (mentioned in at least 15+ entries). Other common models include ads, sponsorships, platform deals, events, books, and freelancing/syndication. Hybrid models (reader revenue + something else) are common, showing the power of diversification.

The Top 50 skewed slightly male (54%) and mostly white (86%), while 12% publicly identify as LGBTQIA+, meaning we need your nominations to continue to grow our insight into the wider world of journalism creators. Is there someone we should have on our radar? Use the form at the bottom of this page to tell us who we missed.

Newsletters dominate this year’s list, especially on Substack (22 creators) and Beehiiv (8). YouTube is the leading video platform (7 creators), followed by Instagram (3) and TikTok (2). A few outliers include Ghost (4) and even Twitch and Bluesky (1 each), showing some experimentation.

Many of the creators are poly-platform, showing up on multiple platforms, reaching slightly different audiences on each.

28 are solopreneurs, while 21 work with a team, suggesting a shift toward collaborative creator-led outlets as people scale.

Only 8 creators on the list have a posted an ethics policy. This shows a need (and opportunity) for more infrastructure around transparency and trust.