LION will hold indie publishers summit at Investigative Reporters & Editors conference

LION Publishers will hold a day-long summit at the Investigative Reporters & Editors conference in Orlando from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, June 15, covering issues, opportunities, ideas and advice for local independent online news organizations and entrepreneurs who are considering starting their own local news site.

A limited number of travel stipends of up to $500 are available for LION members who wish to attend. Apply using the form below.

Reader Revenue

A theme of this year’s LION gathering at IRE will be how investigative, enterprise and accountability journalism can help local publishers build financial support from readers. LION recently launched I-DIG (Impact-Designed Investigative Grants), a micro-grant program supporting local investigative news projects by its members. LION will be working with recipients to tie the results of accountability journalism to appeals to readers for subscriptions, memberships and/or donations.

Local Advertising

We’ll share early lessons from RAMP (Revenue from Advertising Mentorship) — LION’s effort this year to provide intensive mentorship to 10 independent online news publishers in building sustainable financial support from local advertising.

Seed Funding

What’s holding back more would-be local news entrepreneurs from launching in commmunities whose journalism has been depleted or disappeared because of legacy newsroom cuts? We’ll tackle issues such as seed funding, training, news deserts, diversity and inclusion.

LION Table Stakes

What are the basic elements essential to the success of a local independent online news organization? We’ll talk about the things financially sustainable sites have in common, and how that should shape the business plans of would-be local news entrepreneurs.

Three Conferences In One

LION’s June 15 gathering will be held during the 2018 Investigative Reporters & Editors conference, in the same location, and it comes on the heels of the Institute for Nonprofit News’ annual INN Days gathering June 13 and 14, which will also be held at the IRE conference venue.

LION’s summit is free for LION members and anyone registered to attend the IRE or INN conferences. You don’t have to register for or attend IRE to attend the LION event. For non-members who aren’t attending IRE or INN, the cost for the LION event is $25 before June 8, and $49 if you register the week before the conference.

Click here to register for the conference.

Questions? Contact Steve Beatty at [email protected] or Matt DeRienzo at [email protected].