Why Some of the Best News Creators Won't Call Themselves Journalists

This is a newsletter from ICFJ President and ICFJ+ Co-CEO Sharon Moshavi. You can subscribe to our newsletter here.

A little less than a year ago, at the International Journalism Festival in Italy, I asked three winners of the ICFJ News Creator Awardif they identified themselves as journalists when talking to sources and audiences. They immediately shook their heads - if they called themselves journalists, they explained, no one would talk to them.

That moment said something about the level of distrust in our field, but it also clarified how these creators navigate their work. They weren't distancing themselves from journalism's principles - and were thrilled to be honored by a journalism organization. They were instead making a practical choice about how to operate in the communities they serve. This was yet another reminder that public-interest reporting is increasingly happening outside traditional media, and that we need to embrace this shift rather than fight it.

News creators often have deep trust, high engagement and strong community ties with their audiences. And they frequently shape how people understand news more effectively than traditional journalism, especially among younger audiences.

Through ICFJ+, our new venture with Code for Africa and Proto, we're building stronger, more effective news and information ecosystems. Radical collaboration with a wide range of information providers is central to that mission, which is why we've been ramping up our work with and for news creators. Beyond our award, we're also teaming up with Project C to compile regional lists of news creatorsto watch across the globe. The lists will surface and elevate those whose work exemplifies creativity, community engagement and journalistic ethics in their local context. They are part of the Independent Journalism Atlas, a database mapping the journalism creator ecosystem.

Nominate a News Creator

The goal is to help audiences find these creators, and help newsrooms and others working in the media ecosystem partner with them - but it goes beyond discovery. We're also trying to surface models for what good news creation looks like, showing what's possible when community trust, journalistic ethics and creative storytelling come together.

The topic was at the heart of a recent IJNetcommunity eventin Doha, where we launched a call for the Middle East list alongside creators, journalism professors and media entrepreneurs. Together, they explored what creators and journalists can learn from each other. Conversations ranged from the practical - such as the financial realities of doing sustainable work at the intersection of creation and journalism - to harder questions like how to maintain credibility and community trust when platforms reward speed over accuracy.

We hope you'll explore the Atlasand nominatemodel creators you'd like to see added to our regional lists.