The great thing about indie software supporting indie journalists is you can ask for a new feature and then it gets built and shipped in 24 hours 😎
Check out my link in bio, it’s got everything you need.
Thanks, @isabelleroughol.com for asking us to add a featured link can easily buy a subscription or donate. We just shipped it.
Everyone else: Check out Isabelle's Instagram, website, "Broad History" is one of my favorite new podcasts.
All links, you guessed it, here: trustfnd.com/isabelle.roughol
This link in bio goes collaborative as soon as you want it to. That's what we initially built it for.
But Isabelle used it solo when she launched her new podcast and newsletter and started doing Reels on Instagram that people *loved.*
Side-by-side mobile app screenshots comparing a solo and collaborative newsletter signup experience on Trustfund. On the left, @isabelle.roughol's profile shows a standard newsletter signup for Broad History with 2 collaborations. On the right, the same profile displays an expanded signup widget reading "Also get the newsletter of a collaborator," offering joint subscription to both Broad History by Isabelle and Broad Politics by @blake.smith — illustrating how Trustfund's bundle feature surfaces collaborator newsletters within a single signup flow.
It's the *only* link in bio that (i) is designed for journalists, (ii) has free to use sign-up-forms, that (iii) turn collaborative at the switch of a toggle.
Mobile app screenshot showing a Trustfund creator profile for @isabelle.roughol, featuring the newsletter "Broad History – the history you think you know, with women in it this time." The profile shows a newsletter signup form. A floating card in the foreground highlights a "Support my work – Become a member or donate" link. The card features the Broad History cover art: a classical painting of an 18th-century woman with bold pink "BROAD HISTORY" text overlaid.
Ooops, I think we accidentally shipped a free link in bio that actually converts...
@trustfnd.com is all about collaborative growth, but our built-in link in bio works great solo:
Journalist @isabelleroughol.com got a third of her subscribers through it after going viral on Instagram.
omg BLISS!
Enjoy it
Thanks for doing this work, Tyler!
My name is Marisa Kabas, and I'm an independent journalist who publishes The Handbasket. I'm reaching out about a matter that involves your team and that continues to trouble me. In June of last year, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and I filed a FOIA lawsuit against the DC Metropolitan Police Department to compel them to release body camera footage from the March 17, 2025 DOGE raid on the US Institute of Peace. What followed was months of back and forth with their lawyers, arguing why it was in the public interest to release the un-redacted footage in its entirety. Though tiny segments were handed over, that wasn't enough: We wanted all of it. On February 18, 2026, a DC judge ruled in our favor, and your reporter Mark Segraves sent a kind note of congratulations that day. Then on Monday, March 2nd, the footage was handed over to me and excitedly announced I'd received it and would be reviewing it in the coming days and sharing what I learned. When Segraves emailed me this past Thursday asking for my phone number, I didn't think much of it. But when he called me just before 2pm on Friday to let me know NBC4 Washington would be airing a segment at 5pm, I grew concerned. Segraves said he'd obtained some of the footage via a FOIA request that week after he heard the footage had been released to me. He said he'd credit the work of RCFP and me, but it was little comfort. I asked if he'd known the day before when he emailed me for my number, why didn't he tell me then? He didn't have a good answer for that. He acknowledged all the hard work I'd done getting this footage released. I asked him if he could hold the story until Monday, to which he replied that he's "not just a blogger" (implying that that's all I am, presumably) and that he'd have to check with his editor. I said fine. Nearly an hour later he called back to say his editor refused to hold the story, but that they were happy to interview me via Zoom to add to the package, and I said I would.
What followed was two hours of furiously writing and posting clips of the footage to Youtube so I could get something published before the 5pm broadcast, and in the midst of that, recording a quick Zoom interview with a person who was about to take credit for my work. At 4:59pm ET, The Handbasket published a piece titled "Police body cam footage shows DOGE knew Institute of Peace was private property during raid." Then I tuned into NBC4 Washington via your website to catch the broadcast, and my instinct to rush to get something out first was proven right. "It's a story you're seeing first on News4," your newscast began. "For the first time we're getting an inside look at what happened the day the Trump administration took over the US Institute of Peace. News4 obtained more than four hours of police body camera video from that day." What followed was more than six minutes of clips and commentary from Segraves, but it's not until six minutes and 21 seconds into the piece that he mentions my name (mispronounced though he asked for the correct pronunciation on Zoom), "The Handbasket blog," and the RCFP's foundational role in bringing this footage to light. I was angry, but didn't feel there was much I could do. Then I saw the version NBC4 posted to Instagram and TikTok—the video itself made ZERO mention of the RCFP or my work, only briefly acknowledging it in the written caption on Instagram, and not even bothering to do that on TikTok. An average viewer with no background on the case is lead to believe that this footage was released because of your efforts. When I saw that, I decided I couldn't let this go. It's difficult to explain what it's like to spend nearly a year working on a story only to have another reporter and outlet surreptitiously take credit for it; months of work and personal risk only to have another reporter lying in wait to swoop in. What NBC4 did was immoral, unethical, and to be frank, just truly sucked.
I just sent this email to the news director at NBC4 Washington about the unprofessional and disrespectful way they handled publishing the body camera footage of the DOGE raid on the US Institute of Peace that was obtained via my FOIA lawsuit:
Trustfund carousel slide featuring the Planet Detroit globe logo. Text reads: "@planetdetroit — After getting a growth burst for climate journalism, Planet Detroit is looking to collaborate locally." Trustfund branding at the bottom with "Swipe for the full story" prompt.
The Planet Detroit globe logo surrounded by icons of five collaborators, Floodlight, Canary Media, Sentient, AG Water Desk, and The Xylom. Text reads: "Planet Detroit joined 5 other climate newsrooms in creating a collaborative link to sign up to all their newsletters."
"700+ total newsletter subscriptions created. One collaborative link. When any of the newsrooms posted it on social, all lists grew. Planet Detroit gained 122 new subscribers."
Slide featuring a headshot of Nina Ignaczak, Founder and editor at Planet Detroit. Quote reads: "That kind of burst is significantly more than we'd typically see in the same timeframe."
700+ new email subscriptions for climate journalism 💪🏻
The collaborative growth story of the Climate News Task Force, as told by @planetdetroit.org founder @ninaignaczak.bsky.social
Love to see independent journalism thrive in bundles.
A map of Switzerland, with all cantons shown in different shades of red.
Look at this glorious map! The right doesn't always win.
Swiss people delivered a decisive NO to yet another effort to destroy publicly funded journalism.
62% said no. Some* would call this a mandate for a high quality, diverse information ecosystem.
*me
I’m so tired of seeing people bash Bluesky for being an echo chamber when X is an actual intentionally constructed echo chamber that is demonstrably radicalizing people across the political spectrum who still use it
100%
Totally, I also shook my head when I read the quotes that were attributed to her in the story. The thing is just that she's fully the wrong target.
AP journalists leaked an internal message from a product manager that annoyed them.
This is quite stunning. Senior PMs typically don't have reports, in news organizations limited power over strategy. Crazy that they'd put her on blast like this.
There's too much competition for right-wing slop to make any money anymore. The measure of success is how many people you've radicalized, not how successful you've monetized content. It's content marketing, not journalism.
Yeah… I mean after two decades of social media, one would hope outlets would be a bit smarter. It’s such a trust-eroding, short sighted move. Get a few clicks, lose all trust.
Luckily, many news brands have grasped that by now.
Mediate intentionally phrased this headline in a rage-bait-y way.
This had me gasp until I read the story.
AP is selling election data to Kalshi, not making gambling stats part of the news.
Am I missing something?
When Michael First approached me about his idea for @trustfnd.com, I immediately saw the potential. This is the platform we've all been looking for to collaborate with other independent journalists.
Thank you for this shoutout!
You can sign up to Katelyn's newsletter and the newsletter of one of her collaborators here, it's a trans + feminist indie bundle 😍
You should meet more of the amazing journalists already collaborating on @trustfnd.com, so let me introduce you.
Starting with one of my favorite people: @katelynburns.com
Now that CNN and WBD are set to become state media in a sale to Paramount/Oracle/TikTok, it is especially important to support independent media.
Off the top of my head:
www.thehandbasket.co
404media.co
www.garbageday.email
Add your favorites in the replies. Fuck state-backed media monopolies.
Ok I'm no longer counting and sharing donos, but by my count, we raised $45,044.39 yesterday for red state queer organizations.
Thank you everybody!
"Netflix walks away from a deal to buy WBD's studio and streaming assets after WBD deemed Paramount's $31/share bid to be superior; NFLX jumps 8%+ after hours"
I hope Mark Thompson quits if this deal happens. This would absolutely destroy his legacy.
“The most important thing journalism can do in a dictatorship is to tell the truth,” says Salvadoran journalist Carlos Dada in this interview with @eduardosuarez.bsky.social ahead of his Reuters Memorial Lecture on 9 March
Full interview below
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/carlos-...
This is from @status.news, and it is gross.
FCC chairman Brendan Carr sat down with Ben Smith of Semafor so he could "shower praise" upon David Ellison and Bari Weiss, and then hint around at who he might sue next.
www.status.news/p/politico-e...
"Five of the UK’s leading news organisations, including the BBC, the FT and Sky News, have drawn up plans for a coalition aimed at preventing AI tools from exploiting their journalism without permission."
FT, BBC, and more outlets are banding together so journalism doesn't get stolen by AI companies.
This is a great initiative [GIFT ARTICLE]:
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
The start of this trailer couldn't be more perfect
god forbid an elite be subject to unsparing criticism
