The American Press Institute will expand its program to help news organizations work with influencers and trusted messengers with the introduction of a new cohort of newsrooms that will conduct collaborative experiments with third-party creators. Each news organization will receive $3,000 to test and learn from an influencer experiment in their communities.
Through its Influencers Learning Cohort (2025), API will support these 16 local and community news organizations with learning calls to exchange ideas and solve problems with peers. This initiative will help participants develop influencer collaborations around their journalism, including co-hosted Instagram reels to share reporting and promote products, explanatory reporting, ongoing partnerships and live events. Working with this cohort will also expand resources that API offers the industry on building successful partnerships, such as API’s Guide to influencer collaborations.
This program builds on the work of a 2024 cohort that fostered local media collaborations with trusted messengers and influencers on nonpartisan election coverage. Three alumni organizations from that cohort — THE CITY, Factchequeado and PublicSource — are among the organizations receiving funding this year to deepen their work and continue sharing their learnings.
“This second round of investment from API further displays our confidence in sustaining local news through community engagement and relationships. We know not everyone is ready for these kinds of partnerships, but we also know the creator economy is here to stay,” said Samantha Ragland, vice president of Journalism Strategy at API. “This second learning cohort, which prioritizes storytelling and impact projects — not marketing — is one way we can mitigate organizational fear and increase confidence in trusted messenger partnerships while discovering best practices for others to implement.”
The American Press Institute helps media and journalism leaders by conducting research and developing programs and products to build successful, healthy news organizations. Community engagement is one of API’s main focus areas as we help news organizations build trusted relationships with their communities.
Congratulations to the 2025 grantees:
- CalMatters (California)
- Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
- THE CITY (New York)
- CivicLex (Kentucky)
- The Daily Collegian (Pennsylvania)
- El Toque (Florida)
- Factchequeado (California)
- Houston Chronicle (Texas)
- Louisville Public Media (Kentucky)
- Minnesota Star Tribune
- Planeta Venus (Kansas)
- Public Source (Pennsylvania)
- Radio Catskill (New York)
- Technical.ly (District of Columbia, Maryland and Pennsylvania)
- Verified News Network (VNN) (Oklahoma)
- WBUR (Massachusetts)
ABOUT THE AMERICAN PRESS INSTITUTE
The American Press Institute supports local and community-based media through research, programs and products that foster healthy, responsive and resilient news organizations. API envisions an inclusive democracy and society, where communities have the news and information they need to make decisions and thrive. API is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization affiliated with the News/Media Alliance.
