We’re sharing some of our learnings publicly in hopes they help prevent this from occurring in other spaces meant for learning and collaboration
Who can you trust? Why we’re helping creator journalists signal credibility
As trust in traditional news sources declines and general news avoidance increases, more and more people are turning to content creators as a main source of information.
In these online spaces, news consumers can find ethical, fact-checked information in authentic, personal styles. But they can also find misinformation, propaganda and hidden agendas.
At Trusting News, we believe that no matter where people turn for information — whether it’s a news website, social media, TV or newsletter — people should be able to easily identify if information is factual and credible. But in this era of information overload and ever-advancing AI technologies, it’s only becoming more and more challenging to discern what information is true.
That’s why journalists (both content creators and traditional journalists) need to step up to the challenge of helping their audience better navigate the changing news landscape.
We found there’s a real hunger and need for guidance around how independent journalists can do this. Last year, we partnered with Project C’s Liz Kelly Nelson to survey traditional and non-traditional journalists and found that 86% of people surveyed agreed there should be a shared set of ethical standards for independent creator journalists. Plus, a UNESCO report published in late 2024 found that 63% of influencers “lack rigorous fact-checking protocols, despite their significant impact on public discourse.”
We’re excited to convene a small group of creator journalists to experiment with credibility signals in their regular content, based on our deep experience in trust research and training.
The goal: Helping creator journalists deepen the level of trust and engagement they have with their audience, while making it easier for everyday news consumers to find and access credible news.
Creator coaching: How we’re addressing this
Over the next few months, Trusting News (with guidance from Project C) will work with a handful of creator journalists to experiment and test credibility signals with their audience. (Note, we haven’t announced the creators we’re working with, but we will update this post when we do! If you’re interested, fill out this form and let us know.)
Our end goal is to help both creators and the public. For creator journalists, we want to help bolster their trust and credibility with their audience as they navigate a crowded and confusing information landscape. We’ll help walk them through ways to infuse transparency into their daily content and stand out as trusted practitioners. For the public, we hope this will help offer an easier path through a confusing media landscape.
Here’s a look at how we’ll do this:
- Training and coaching: We’ll help creator journalists articulate what they want their audiences to know about their integrity, ethics and processes.
- Measure impact: We’ll implement measurement systems to gather qualitative and quantitative audience responses to the new messaging to determine what works and what doesn’t.
- Increasing industry knowledge: We’ll gather examples of what works to share with the wider industry.
We’ve been in the transparency business for almost a decade, so we have strong hypotheses about what will and won’t resonate with audiences who prefer the authenticity and individuality of the creator space. But this coaching will help illuminate and establish best practices in this evolving space.
We plan to launch this work in October and wrap up in early 2026. We’ll be sure to share our findings and examples along the way! The best way to stay in the know is to sign up for our Trust Tips newsletter and the Project C newsletter.
If you’re interested in funding this work, or are a content creator or journalist interested in plugging in with this work, let us know by filling out this form!
Two helpful creator-focused resources
There is some fantastic work being done in journalism right now to help support creator journalists and help newsrooms collaborate with creator journalists. Two resources we want to point out.
- For newsrooms: The American Press Institute has been testing what newsroom/influencer collaborations can look like. After working with two cohorts of newsrooms who experimented with partnering with local influencers in their areas, they’ve developed a wealth of knowledge and resources, all of which you can find in their guide to influencer collaborations.
- For creators: Project C is launching another round of Going Solo training. Led by an all-star lineup of journalists and media professionals, this Going Solo workshop will help journalists looking to strike out on their own build their own successful businesses and brands. Register here! It kicks off Oct. 2.
At Trusting News, we learn how people decide what news to trust and turn that knowledge into actionable strategies for journalists. We train and empower journalists to take responsibility for demonstrating credibility and actively earning trust through transparency and engagement. Learn more about our work, vision and team. Subscribe to our Trust Tips newsletter. Follow us on Twitter, BlueSky and LinkedIn.
Project manager Mollie Muchna (she/her) has spent the last 10 years working in audience and engagement journalism in local newsrooms across the Southwest. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, where she is also an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona’s School of Journalism. She can be reached at mollie@trustingnews.org and on Twitter @molliemuchna.
