The Independent Journalism Atlas is building a database of people doing journalism outside traditional newsrooms. It maps creators by beat, format, business model, and audience.
- The Independent Journalism Atlas maps roughly 1,000 creators (so far) doing journalism outside traditional newsrooms, solo operators, small collectives, experts translating knowledge for public audiences. It's built with partners like Medill and ICFJ, skews U.S.-heavy, and estimates tens of thousands more could qualify globally.
- Inclusion criteria boil down to: independent, identifiable product, professional effort, journalistic function, and basic ethical standards. It's not a verification badge, though curated sub-lists with stricter transparency requirements are coming.
