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Ten independent online news publishers from across the country have been chosen to participate in a yearlong program that will offer assistance in building advertising support for local journalism, LION Publishers announced Thursday.

LION Publishers will offer mini-grants to members to support local investigative reporting projects with the support of the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation. LION will receive a $25,000 grant from the foundation to assist members with building capacity for accountability journalism, it was announced Friday.

As news organizations across the U.S. continue to experiment with altered business models and new streams of revenue, it’s become clear that building reader revenue needs to be part of nearly everyone’s strategy.

To help news publishers think through different ways they could approach building a business with their audience, the Center for Cooperative Media and LION Publishers are teaming up to host a workshop on reader revenue, set for Friday, April 6, at Montclair State University.

Local independent online news publishers are reaching out to readers in the wake of Facebook’s decision to “remove news from its News Feed,” warning them that they might no longer see breaking news and accountability journalism on crucial matters in their community. Many are using it as an impetus to sign readers up for direct notification of local stories via email newsletter.

LION Publishers is accepting applications from members for a new mentorship program that will help local independent online news publishers establish local advertising as a sustainable revenue source.

Local independent online news publishers produced a steady stream of significant accountability journalism in 2017, from major investigations that had immediate impact on public policy, to deeply reported ongoing coverage of local government, business and public health issues.

Repealing Net Neutrality would allow giant chain media to work in concert with internet conglomerates to limit access to independent, alternative, and local news sites, according to LION Publishers.

DNAinfo journalists who are out of a job: if you’ve got the drive to be an entrepreneur, we’ve got a network of independent publishers who are ready and willing to help you establish a news outlet that is focused on your community.

LION Publishers will receive a $250,000 grant from Democracy Fund to support an initiative to assist publishers of local independent online news organizations in developing sustainable business models.

The Lenfest Institute, a Philadelphia-based foundation set up as part of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s switch to being owned by a nonprofit, has announced $1 million in grant funding to support local journalism innovation and sustainability efforts. The grants, funded in part by the Knight Foundation, include support for a LION member’s efforts to get have readers become investors in California local independent online news site Berkeleyside.