Dec 9, 2025
How to build a local newsletter people actually read ft. Tomo Chien
This week on Creator Spotlight we’re joined by Tomo Chien, the founder and editor of ‘Morning, Trojan’, a newsletter aimed at engaging USC students with local news. He highlights the competitive landscape of student publications, the importance of
Listen on
This week on Creator Spotlight we’re joined by Tomo Chien, the founder and editor of ‘Morning, Trojan’, a newsletter aimed at engaging USC students with local news. He highlights the competitive landscape of student publications, the importance of original reporting, and the strategies used to grow the audience.
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Earn with Google AdSense: https://goo.gle/earnwithadsense
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Tomo Chien
Francis Zierer
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Timestamps
00:00 Introducing Tomo Chien
01:08 Disrupting the local media scene
05:10 The freedom to be controversial
08:57 The one change that brought 10k subscribers
14:30 Finding the stories people want to read
20:02 How long does aggregating content take?
25:02 Tomo’s high school news project
28:55 Why he’s shutting down the newsletter
32:22 Future plans after the newsletter
37:28 Defining creator journalism
