Register now — LION's conference in Chicago, Oct. 26-28, will feature dozens of informative sessions with concrete tips for success in the local news biz. Be a part of LION's largest-ever gathering!
Check out the complete schedule of session for the 2017 LION Summit — more than 3 dozen presentations and conversations over 3 days, with even more speakers and discussion leaders being added soon.
LION Publishers is pleased to invite all who care about the future of local journalism to a conference devoted to the journalistic excellence and economic well-being of local independent online news sites.
The annual LION Summit will return to Chicago on Oct. 26-28, 2017, at the downtown campus of Columbia College Chicago. It will feature two full days packed with an array of speakers, panel discussions and networking opportunities devoted to revenue ideas and best practices, community engagement and sustainability. Plus, we'll open with an afternoon networking and informational session, and hold nightly receptions where we can all share what we've learned. Sign up now!
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A Q&A with LION member Chip Rowe, publisher of Highlands Current in New York.
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LION Publishers will hold a day-long program in Phoenix June 23 on business model, revenue, journalism and technology issues facing local independent online news publishers.
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A Q&A with LION member Gordon Joseloff, publisher of Westport Now in Connecticut.
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Host Scott Brodbeck (ARLnow.com, RestonNow.com) interviews Field Walsh of TXK Today in Texas, whose route to local news was non-traditional and who has found success in an advertising model and video.
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A Q&A with Shereen Siewert, publisher of the Wausau Pilot & Review in WIsconsin.
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As long as there have been big corporate newspaper chains answering to the stock market rather than independent, family ownership, newsrooms have braced for “layoff season” — coming right before the start of a new fiscal year, or immediately following.
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A Q&A with Barry Friedman, publisher of LkldNow.com in Lakeland, Florida.
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LION Publishers is offering a monthly webinar series that will tackle programmatic advertising for local independent online news sites, navigating legal issues surrounding copyright and fair use, managing website metrics, and localizing free content available from national news sites.
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Are your story archives protected from a major server crash or other technology problem? And what happens to news archives crucial to the history of a community if a local online news site closes down?
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LION Publishers is pleased to have welcomed more than two dozen new members running local independent online news sites from 18 different states over the past year, plus other new members who are preparing to launch sites.
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Margaret Sullivan is right to sound the alarm about what steep newspaper cuts are doing to local journalism across the country, but her April 16 column, “Great local reporting stands between you and wrongdoing. And it needs saving,” misses the story of what is replacing and can replace what’s being lost.
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The Valley Independent Sentinel's editor and reporter are on camera for 36 hours straight to make the case for supporting local journalism - and other nonprofits - in Connecticut's blue collar Naugatuck Valley.
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A Q&A with Mary Alice Murphy, publisher of the Grant County Beat in New Mexico.
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LION member Jesus Sanchez is the proprietor of The Eastsider LA in Los Angeles. We talked with Jesus about being a one man band, making ends meet when you're covering communities in a big city (including communities that are gentrifying), and about the differences between LION sites in large metro areas and smaller towns.
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Join LION today!
Become a member of the nation's only nation's only association dedicated to Local Independent Online News Publishers, who are successfully creating the future of reporting: locally owned and operated news outlets that directly serve their communities.
Benefits
Knowledge & networking
LION Publishers share their expertise in editorial, technical, business, advertising sales, marketing and fundraising with their peers. Network with a pool of online news pioneers who are proving daily that local online news does work.
Representation
As a member of LION Publishers, you and your organization will be associated with a group of the most recognized and respected local news sites in the nation. The association works as an advocate for local independent news sites, raising our public profile and standing in the industry.
Efficiency & effectiveness
LION is dedicated to improving our members' businesses, on both the editorial and revenue side. Members share their strategies on running news operations that are growing, not shrinking.
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Our mission
Foster the viability and excellence of locally focused independent online news organizations and cultivate their connections to their communities through education and action.
Our values
We share a passion for quality journalism and a determination to focus our energies on the health of our online publications as businesses, whether for profit or nonprofit.
We approach our tasks with an entrepreneurial spirit and a belief that individually and collectively we are setting the pace for a new era of local news publishing.
We are dedicated to championing the local online news industry, in the firm belief that independent publishers are establishing the template for successful local digital news organizations - just as independent publishers did for print newspapers in the 19th century.
We declare the best strategy to ensure that local communities are served by quality professional reporting is the promotion and support of local independent online news publishing.
We are committed to strong local independent journalism, whether in small towns or big cities, to tell the stories that reflect their residents and build a sense of place, and to shine an informative light that allows citizens to make wise decisions. The Internet is worldwide, but every neighborhood's story is individual.
Our strategic goals
- To identify and implement successful strategies for maintaining and expanding member sustainability, readership and community impact
- To pool knowledge and resources, promote collaboration, and leverage economic opportunities as a group
- To lead technological and operational innovation to advance efficiency and quality in our industry
- To uphold high professional standards, identify best practices and support members through education, and recognize excellence in local online reporting
- To advance the case for strong local independent online journalism and represent membership interests in the public sphere
- To found and develop a stable, financially sustainable organization that serves member organizations, their staffs, local communities and the broader industry
