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“Same values, same mission, same ethics”: How the Houston Chronicle chooses creators to work with
“We are thinking of creators almost as, like, freelancers for the digital age.”
Earlier this month, the Knight Foundation held its annual Media Forum in Miami. Videos of many of the sessions are on YouTube and we’re publishing transcripts of some of the most interesting conversations. Transcripts are lightly edited for clarity, and any errors are ours.
Here, Amalie Nash, VP of journalism at the Knight Foundation, speaks with Houston Chronicle managing editor of news and strategy Alejandra Matos, Chronicle senior director of digital experimentation and innovation Jennifer Chang, and Houston creator Shawn Singh (“Shawn the Food Sheep”) about the Chronicle’s recent partnerships with creators.
Amalie Nash: I’m going to tell you a little bit about Shawn, show you a little video, and then we’re going to dive into the partnership that was created with the Houston Chronicle.
So you see on the screen, this is Shawn, Shawn the Food Sheep. In 2020, he started these accounts while working on his master’s degree with a goal of posting every single day, at least once a day for a year. Today, he has 258,000 followers on TikTok, 239,000 on Instagram, and 40,000 on YouTube. So let’s take a look at what his content is like. [clip]
All right, we’ll stop it there. I’ll show you a little bit about some of the results from that food video. Obviously, that was produced in partnership with the Chronicle. So in 2024 the Houston Chronicle noticed a spike in traffic to some of their food content. It wasn’t from Shawn, it was from another creator, but it got them thinking: What if we partnered with some sort of creators, and really thought about how we might collaborate and do something differently here?
So they reached out to Shawn, who was a familiar face to them — although, fun fact, I learned they just met in person today, so that’s very exciting. And they started partnering last year, around the same time the American Press Institute reached out about a program to encourage newsrooms to work with their local influencers and provided some funding that made it easier for them to experiment and compensate Shawn for his work.
Shawn’s here along with Jennifer Chang, who’s the senior director of digital experimentation and innovation at the Houston Chronicle, and Alejandra Matos, who was just named the Chronicle’s managing editor for news and strategy. Congratulations on your promotion. So let’s dive into the partnership, Shawn. Let’s start with you. Tell us about becoming Shawn the Food Sheep.
Shawn Singh: Yeah, so Shawn the Food Sheep…was my random throwaway account. I’ve tried to change that name for the past couple of years…unfortunately, I can’t change it. My audience won’t let me. But yeah, I mean, I’ve been doing this since 2020, technically, but really seriously starting in 2021, I was doing it as part of my master’s program. I lived in L.A., saw everybody else in L.A. doing it, and I have posted every day since, for the past few years. And, you know, I’m a big believer in spontaneous order. You just go along as the opportunities come along. That’s how the Houston Chronicle and I started working together. It’s been a lot of fun.
Nash: You have a full-time job, too. This isn’t your full-time work, right?
Singh: Yes, actually, funny enough, I’m literally on my lunch break right now. I work fully remote from my job. I’m so glad that this happened at around 11 a.m., otherwise I would have definitely taken PTO.
Nash: We’re glad it worked out for you, too. Alejandra, let’s talk a little bit about how the Chronicle started thinking about working with creators.
Alejandra Matos: I get a lot of my news around food from Shawn. We’ve built a really strong program with our guides, our critique, trying to get our food team in front of the camera more. That’s really where we see it. We have to be in that space. Working with Shawn has opened up that creator mindset, to get in front of the camera more, show our work, show our expertise, and start to build that one-to-one human connection that goes even deeper, with things like the food tour that Shawn did the video on.
Nash: And Jennifer, why Shawn, specifically, when you started looking at who to partner with?
Chang: We first kicked things off with a brainstorm. The way that Alejandra describes it sounded very easy and smooth, and it was not a very easy and smooth process at first. There was a lot of trying to get buy-in from all parts of the newsroom. So we started with a brainstorm, and at the end of it, the food editor comes up to me separately afterwards, and says, “There’s only one person that I trust to do this with.” And it really became about — not really about follower count, you know, there were a lot of influencers out there who had more followers than Shawn. But we went with Shawn because we share the same values, the same mission, the same ethics.
Nash: So, Shawn, what did you think when the Chronicle reached out? Were you like, this is exciting? This is crazy? I’ve never heard of the Chronicle? What were you thinking?
Singh: No, no, I was genuinely very honored. I grew up reading the Houston Chronicle, like when it was a newspaper, it would be in front of the house. That’s how I would see all the Houston sports stats, what happened the night before. So I was very honored.
I think a lot of newsrooms should give themselves more credit. You guys have an incredible reputation. You’re doing an amazing job. I responded to that email so quick. I was like, yes! Houston Chronicle! It was genuinely mutually beneficial, because I’ve been following the Houston Chronicle team for awhile, had gone to a lot of their events, and it just happened to be the perfect fit.
Chang:I love that he said “I read them when they were a newspaper,” because we still do have a newspaper. [laughter] But I love that you now think of us as a digital news organization, because that’s truly what we’re trying to do.
Nash: Yes, that’s fantastic. Alejandra, I understand there was a sort of “it’s Shawn or bust” moment in the newsroom. Tell us about that.
Matos: Our food team, our critic in particular, right — there’s very high standards. We pay for all our own meals. We try restaurants at least three times before they decide on the critique. There’s a lot of influencers — not Shawn, but a lot of influencers — where you’re not clear who’s behind the video. They don’t always disclose where they’re getting their funding from, if the recommendation is truly their own recommendation or if it’s being paid for by someone. That was really the biggest point from the team: We want to work with someone who has and shares those same values. That’s why it was Shawn or bust. They’ve known him, they had featured him in an article before and follow his work. We really needed those values to align.
Nash: You mentioned the whole editorial independence piece and all of that. Shawn, a lot of food influencers, they make deals, they get free meals as a result of it. You don’t. You pay for all your own food. Talk a little bit about that process and your own independence.
Singh: Sure. That’s a big reason why I work my full-time job. For me, this is more of a side hustle, and something that I’m truly passionate about. In 2025, I spent $15 to $18,000 on food. The credit card bill didn’t look fun. I mean, I still do brand deals, right? But essentially, how I structure it is, when I work with a big brand…a big brand like McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, stuff like that, and then that pays for the rest of your meals throughout the year.
But just so y’all know…80%, 90% of food creators, of travel creators, it is not that way at all. Eighty percent, ninety percent, if you look on your TikTok or Instagram, the majority of people take free meals. That’s just how the food world kind of works, unfortunately. It’s not true journalism.
Nash: So if you spent $18,000 on food last year, what was your favorite thing you ate, or favorite place you went?
Singh: You know, everybody looks at, like the Michelin Guide. Those were the most expensive meals of the year…Personally, I think Houston Chronicle Top 100 restaurants is slightly better. I’m totally not biased there. But basically it was the top ones. If you’re in Houston, you’ve got to go with Tex-Mex, and [Chronicle restaurant critic Bao Ong] and I did a video on Candente. If you’re ever in Houston, go to Candente. Best Tex-Mex in town.
Nash: Jennifer, let’s talk a little bit more about money. How are you compensating Shawn? What does that look like?
Chang: I was very nervous to ask about that, because I think there’s this Wild West when it comes to creator payment. The very first time we met over Zoom, we were very forthright about what we wanted to do. I could feel excitement on both ends about what we wanted to accomplish and how we could work together. I asked him, how much would it cost for one? Just start with one video, edit, produce, everything. He quoted me about $1,000, and at the time, because we had this generous API grant, I knew I could say yes, no matter what.
But ultimately, when we look at how we want to make this sustainable, we are thinking of creators almost as, like, freelancers for the digital age. The way that we used to have freelancers fill up space in print, we no longer — we’re trying to move away from that, and really trying to think about how we can sustainably work with creators using our freelance money.
Nash: Any surprises when you started working together? For any of you?
Singh: I was surprised that they trusted me. [laughter] When we were going back and forth in the editing process, it was like, oh, yeah, you’re good to go. That’s why alignment is so important, right? If you pick the wrong creator, or you pick somebody that’s not aligned in the same values or the same way of doing things, the editing process and the back-and-forth is the least favorite part, you can ask any creator….If you work in brand deals, even if they pay a good amount, if you go back and forth five, six times, it’s just painful. So that is what I feel like is the hardest part of a creator-slash-brand relationship. And they trusted me. I was surprised at that, but very honored as well. There were, like, minor grammatical errors, of course, and stuff like that. But that’s, that’s totally, I’m definitely going to change that.
Chang: It surprised me how great and easy and smooth the process was, because I think we had that alignment to start, and we didn’t have a fist over the editing process. It was just, again, minor grammatical errors. It was great. Once we got on the same page and established that, it was really smooth sailing from there.
Matos: The food team, obviously, was very excited about it. But I think it also unlocks other possibilities around the room. How can we try something that might scare us and we’re not used to? Yes, we still have a newspaper. A lot of these journalists, they’re used to writing, not used to being in front of the camera. It just unlocks the possibility for other experiments.
Nash: How does the assignment process work? Shawn, do you just do whatever you want, you turn it in? They assign you things to do? It’s a collaboration? How does it come about, what you’re going to cover for the Chronicle?
Singh: And that’s why I think long-term relationships are important, because it would suck to work with somebody, go back and forth, get to know somebody, and then it just kind of stops right there.
We’ve done it a couple times. I think the first time, Jennifer, y’all sent over an email with a few things that y’all would like. I agreed with most of it, because we were already aligned. That was the easy part.
But I think during the second batch of it, I came to them with this idea of, like, hey, let’s highlight more spots in the Houston Chronicle Top 100. I think it would be great for y’all, be mutually beneficial. That one was a lot of freedom. So again, if it’s aligned and you’re getting the views, that’s a win-win for everybody. Because what you don’t want is, you don’t want a brand deal or something and then the views and the ROI just doesn’t pan out.
Chang: We now have a standing meeting in the calendar where it’s just codifying a bit more. We have a time where we meet monthly, and we talk about the different projects that we’re doing at the Chronicle, and then he brings up the ideas that he has. So it’s become like a true partnership.
Nash: What are the metrics that you’re looking at? Like, how do you determine whether this is successful? What are the important things to you?
Chang: Earlier, I think there was a flash [on the screen] on the results that we have from our initial partnership through the API grant.
We started with three videos, and each video had its own set of North Star [key performance indicators]. We mainly wanted to get a good sense of, like, how many newsletter signups do we get out of it? Can you drive people to actually subscribe, if it’s to a paywalled guide? And with that food tour, seeing if you could get people to follow our new food account. There were various results from that.
Ultimately, it really, really depends. We have one coming up on Chowbot, this AI-powered food recommendations bot. For that, I think just driving people to the page and seeing if they can play around with it is the goal.
Matos: I think in a metrics-obsessed culture, the thing here is trying something new and really building this culture in the newsroom. Working with Shawn has helped us to build in more of this creator mindset. I’m thankful [that with] Hearst, our parent company, there’s no pressure to, like, deliver on this, if you will. The metric of success here is, did we try something new? And does this spur other ways of thinking and being in different places and in different ways?
Nash: Which I think is really important, so let’s dive into that for a second. I’m curious, when you think about or talk about the rise of content creators, it’s often: Should we partner with them? Should we turn our own journalists into sort of content creators following the same types of formats, understanding audience? How has working with creators like Shawn actually changed the journalists in your newsroom, or the way that they work?
Matos: I think it is, again, that creator mindset. We have deep expertise in the newsroom — not just on the food team, right? Beat reporters who understand really complex topics in ways that other people don’t. We write this in articles, and we try to find different formats to do this, but we often kind of allow people to experience that with us. Food, I think, is the most obvious space. When you’re trying a dish or something and you see the initial expression of the person who’s trying it, and you really get that genuine feeling from it — I think it brings connection deeper in a way that the article just cannot.
So it’s opening this mindset to show our work and connect deeper with people. Working with creators has allowed us to think through: How do we more deeply connect as human beings? People follow people, not brands. I mean, they do follow brands, but people will follow people first. Creating human experiences like the food tour has allowed us to think more deeply about human connection in a way that, again, the article just cannot.
Chang: And if I may, I don’t think, as newsrooms, we have to pick. I think we can do both. We can experiment on one side with external creators, and we can also nurture our own newsroom staff and encourage them to be in front of the camera.
Nash: Yeah, I think that’s an important point.
So you partner with Shawn. Are you partnering with other food creators? Are you partnering beyond food creators? What’s next?
Chang: We are definitely still continuing to partner together with Shawn. We haven’t closed the door to partnering with other food creators, although for now, I think, Shawn or bust. It’s really interesting as we think about how we can expand this to different parts of the newsroom. We have some things cooking. And where you run into trouble is when you try to force a partnership and there’s really just no alignment there. So it really depends on the topic, it really depends on the project.
Right now, though, we are exploring this partnership. We have an investigation coming up on compounding pharmacies. When you look at the landscape of health and wellness influencers, there are many people who I wouldn’t say align with us in mission and values and ethics. But there are some who do. The ones who do are often medical professionals themselves. They have real credentials, and they’ve built a whole content strategy around debunking trends or myths, fighting misinformation out there. Even though they’re not journalists, this is solid explanatory journalism.
Thinking about those creators, it’s going back to that same question: Do they share the same values, the same mission, the same ethics?
Nash: Have you had an experience where you reached out to a creator, had some conversations, and realized, like, this isn’t going to work, it’s not aligned?
Chang: Yes. Yes. All the time. I think I wrote in the API piece, it’s almost like a first date. If there’s any flags, you just have to listen to your gut.
Nash: Do you think there’s anything specifically about Houston that makes the creator economy more robust than other places, or why it would work particularly well? Or it can work anywhere?
Chang: 100%. I’m born and raised in Houston. Houston is a very young city. It’s one of the most diverse, if not the most diverse, city by many many counts. Our editor-in-chief Kelly Ann Scott often cites a survey that [says] the number-one used news site in Houston is actually YouTube. When we think about ourselves as a news organization in Houston, this kind of work becomes really crucial. It becomes really important to having impact and making sure that we get it right.
Nash: Shawn, what advice would you have for other creators if they were thinking about doing a partnership with a legacy media organization?
Singh: I’d say be very careful how you position yourself, every action you take. For example, if I get a negative comment and I respond in a very immature, non-professional way, that’s going to come back to bite you. I’d say, if you are going to work with a newsroom, be a professional. Use correct grammar. Respond to emails in a prompt way. Just do the little things right. You’d be surprised at how many creators — because again, they don’t come from traditional backgrounds, a lot of them are just doing it on the side, and they’re not familiar with the intricacies of how things work sometimes. I’d say, just do a little bit of research on that.
Nash: Is your goal to become a full-time creator? Or are you thinking this continues to be a side gig for you?
Singh: I don’t know. It changes all the time. I’ve been doing it pretty successfully, managing my full-time job and being a creator on the side, but it’s becoming tougher and tougher as I want to do more things. I dedicate about 20 to 30 hours a week on the creator side, and 40 to 45 hours a week to my full-time job. At that point, if you do that weekly, it can get tough.
One issue that a lot of creators run into: You don’t want it to be your entire life, right? I have a goal to post a video five to seven times a week, no matter what, for an entire year. Well, what if you go on vacation with your family for a week or two weeks? That’s where it gets a little difficult.
Nash: I’d love to hear from any of you on the panel: What barriers prevent newsrooms and creators from doing more of this work? And how could we potentially get over those barriers?
Matos: There’s inertia, I think, especially in legacy newsrooms, of like, do we have to keep doing these things? And that is the thing: We do have to stop doing some stuff in order to create a culture and a space to try something like this. We’ve built this. Kelly, our editor, often says we don’t have to debate what we can test. So just trying things, but also giving that space and that permission that if something doesn’t work, it’s okay.
I get it. In newsrooms, often, resources are scarce, time is scarce. You overthink things, and you’re a little afraid to try it, but really creating that culture of like: How do we create time and space to do these things so that we can try it? And it does mean, often, giving some stuff up.
Chang: I’m gonna say money. [laughs] I’m just gonna go and say it. I think it’s the money. I think that’s why organizations like API were so great in helping us. Yes, we need to have a culture of experimentation, where we don’t have KPIs necessarily attached. But it is good that when you have it and you use it and you experiment with it, you are measuring things, so you know it’s maybe tracking in the right way. I’m in front of many founders and funders, and I think money is one of the hurdles.
Nash: Shawn, what barriers do you see?
Singh: As a creator, our framework is based on your own internal metrics of: Are you getting the views, are you getting the likes, are you getting the shares? Because at the end of the day, if you’re an influencer or a creator, you really care about that stuff, and I think that’s why this fits so well.
I was telling them backstage that I have my own internal metrics that I think I need to reach for a video almost every time. The best part is, if you can get that, and it’s a partnership, it works out in both ways. If you can hit both of those things where both sides are happy, you’re getting the views, you’re getting all the stuff that you’d like, it works out perfectly.
Nash: So some of the key themes we’re hearing are: Trust the creator. Understand that a lot of times it doesn’t work if you try to, you know, force the creator to be essentially, like, in your newsroom, the way that you’ve always done things. Experiment a lot with what you’re trying and see what works, see what doesn’t. And the quality of the content matters. Obviously, there’s a lot of people out there, and figuring out which ones have the most quality content.
As we’re getting toward the end, I would love to do a quick lightning round with each of you. Alejandra, I’ll start with you. What is your takeaway for newsroom leaders that are thinking about something like this?
Matos: Start small, pick one team and one creator that you think would align, and build that creator mindset. Open yourself up and start small to build those deeper human connections.
Nash: Jennifer, what would be your advice for journalists when you think about content creators? What would you say to the journalists individually in your newsroom?
Chang: I would say, don’t get caught up on follower count. Focus instead on shared mission, shared values, shared ethics.
Nash: And Shawn, what’s your lesson for creators that you’ve learned as a result of this work?
Singh: I’d say, don’t focus on being transactional. You know, the Houston Chronicle invited me to a couple events, I went to the events and it was about building the relationship. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from the Houston Chronicle team, the journalists there. I would say, just try to make it a long-term relationship. Don’t look at it like a transactional one-off like you might in other in other brand deals or other situations.
Nash: Shout-out to API for funding this work to be able to make it happen. Anyone who wants to dive deeper into the full case study, the metrics, the lessons learned, all that, scan the QR code that you see there, and you’ll get the full report. And a huge shoutout to Liz Kelly Nelson. I don’t see her, but she’s around here, and she produced this conversation.
You can watch more videos from the 2026 Knight Media Forum here.
Screenshot from Knight Media Forum from one of Shawn Singh’s videos for the Houston Chronicle
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The unrestricted funding helped small outlets plug holes and try new things, but publishers ran up against the limits of what two $50,000 grants could accomplish, especially when it came to hiring.
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