There isn’t yet a clear playbook for financial sustainability in creator journalism, according to a report published by the Center for News, Technology & Innovation (CNTI) on Monday, which indicates that mission-driven independent journalists are financially strained.

To better understand the trends and challenges in the growing landscape, CNTI partnered with Project C — a research hub on creator journalism — to survey 43 independent information providers and creator-journalists in the United States. Twenty-six of the survey respondents also participated in in-depth interviews about their work. Nieman Lab readers will recognize some of the names here: Taylor Lorenz (User Mag), Kat Tenbarge (Spitfire News), Ryan Teague Beckwith (Your First Byline), and Barbara “Bob” Allen (The College Journalism Newsletter), among others.

The report, titled “U.S. Indie Info Providers: Professionally Diverse, Mission-driven, Sometimes Lonely, Rarely Earning Profit,” finds that while “indie info providers” increasingly see themselves as mission-driven small business owners, only five of the 43 respondents said they could “fully fund their lifestyle” with content creation income; just over 50% (23) said they “can’t fund their lifestyle at all” with their content. Less than one in three interviewees had a “formal or developed business strategy,” according to the report.

Like many journalists working in legacy newsrooms, news creators find their work meaningful and fulfilling, but they also worry about making ends meet and consider cash flow and managing finances to be some of their greatest challenges. Many of the creators interviewed said they rely on a mix of income sources, from freelance and consulting work to savings and support from a partner.

“Journalism isn’t immune to the larger trend of the gig-ification of labor,” CNTI senior research manager Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein told me. “Most people in the U.S. think that journalism is stably funded and that access to quality information should be a right. But instability in the industry is actually a big driver behind the indie trend. These trends are in tension: If you believe information is a public good, someone still has to pay for it. If something is valuable to you, find a way to support it financially. That’s especially true if you have the means to do so for people who don’t.”

Of the 43 survey respondents, 35 identified themselves as mission-driven independent journalists. Many had previously worked as reporters in legacy newsrooms, others had held management positions in news, and some had no journalism experience at all. CNTI found that the news creators with only newsroom experience felt the least prepared when it came to business and operational management. Ten out of 26 interviewees had taken professional development courses to learn business skills.

Read the full article about independent journalists by Hanaa' Tameez at Nieman Journalism Lab.