For working reporters
Your sources
deserve a proper home.
You've spent years earning the trust of the people who give you the real story. Inner Circle keeps those relationships organized, warm, and with you — wherever you report.
AJ
Abigail Jones
Former NTSB investigator · Boeing network
Spoke 3 days ago
SC
Margaret Howell
Former NTSB investigator · Boeing network
Spoke 3 days ago
MH
Margaret Howell
Former NTSB investigator · Boeing network
Spoke 3 days ago
Gone cold
Renata Vargas — 9 weeks since last contact.
83%
of reporters keep sources in their phone contacts
0
purpose-built CRMs exist for journalists
~6mo
before a warm source goes cold without contact
The problem
Your contacts app wasn't built for this.
A reporter's source network is built over years: late callbacks, off-the-record coffees, the trust that forms when you get a story right and treat a source fairly.
But none of that context lives anywhere usable.
It's scattered across your memory, Signal threads, inboxes, and a contacts app that has no concept of beats, confidentiality, or “deep background.”
That creates real problems:
- When you change outlets, your entire network leaves with you.
- When a colleague on your beat needs context, there's nothing to share.
- When you haven't talked to a key source in months, you don't realize it until you're already on deadline.
The most valuable asset in journalism has no system designed to support it.
"I've got a source at the county health department who's been gold for three years. Her number is literally saved as 'Health Dept Karen' in my phone."
— Beat reporter, mid-size daily
"When our city hall reporter left, she took her whole network with her. We had to start from scratch on the mayor's office beat."
— Metro editor, regional newspaper
"I realized I hadn't called my best source on the school board story in six months. By the time I called, she'd already talked to someone else first."
— Education reporter, local TV
How it works
Set up in minutes.
Useful from day one.
1
Import your contacts
Pull in from your phone, Gmail, or a CSV. Two minutes and your existing network is inside. No re-entry, no setup tax.
2
Tag what matters
Add beats, confidentiality levels, and a note about how you know them. The context that lives in your head, now written down.
3
Stay warm
Inner Circle tracks how long it's been since you've been in touch. When a source is going cold, you know before it costs you a story.
Features
Built around how
reporters actually work.
Confidentiality tiers
On record, background, deep background — stored per source, per story. The distinctions reporters make every day, built into the data model.
Warmth decay alerts
Sources go cold. Inner Circle watches the clock and surfaces who needs a touch-base before you're on deadline realizing it's been months.
Beat-aware search
"Who do I know on the school board?" surfaces the right person across your beats and tags — not just a name search through 400 contacts.
Story linkage
Tag sources to stories. Track who you gave a chance to comment. Build an auditable record that protects you and your publication.
Newsroom handoff
When a reporter leaves, their beat sources stay with the team. The institutional memory your newsroom has needed but never had.
Your data, always
Export everything as CSV at any time. No lock-in, no hostage-taking. Your network is yours — not ours.
Pricing
Priced for reporters,
not enterprise budgets.
Solo
$
5
per month
Up to 20 sources
Beat tags + confidentiality tiers
Warmth decay alerts
Contact log + notes
Reporter Pro
$
10
per month
Everything in Solo
Unlimited sources
Story linkage
Comment tracker
Newsroom
$
35
per seat / month · min. 5 seats
Everything in Reporter Pro
Gmail + Outlook auto-log
Shared beat source pools
Reporter departure handoff
Your sources built
your career. Protect that.
Currently in private beta. Onboarding working reporters first — no newsroom sales cycle required.
© 2026 Inner Circle · yourinnercircles.com