How Newspack helps indie news publishers grow revenue with tailored tech solutions

Newspack is a Vanguard Sponsor of the 2025 Independent News Sustainability Summit. LION is featuring some Summit sponsors in Q&As to help members learn more about their work. Find out how to become a Summit sponsor.

It’s no secret that independent news publishers are often pressed for time. With only so many hours in a day, it can be difficult to juggle all the demands that come with running a local newsroom. That’s why we love to see organizations, like Newspack, that make it easier for news leaders to publish impactful journalism, grow their audiences, and ultimately, boost their revenue. 

This week, we sat down with Kinsey Wilson, the founder and head of Newspack, to learn more about the support they provide.

Hayley: To kick us off, could you share a bit about Newspack and how you support LION members and other indie news entrepreneurs?

Kinsey: Successful news operations require sophisticated technology. And the task of sourcing, acquiring, and deploying media tech can be onerous for any organization. Newspack is designed to meet the tech needs of small and medium-sized publishers in three ways: By deploying technology that is tailor-made for local news outlets. By embracing open-source standards so we can integrate the very best tools on the market. And by building solutions that scale to hundreds of publishers, so that we can hold down costs without compromising quality.

Hayley: And can you tell us more about what you do at Newspack?

Kinsey: I founded Newspack in 2019 at a moment when local digital startups were really starting to take off and the need for great news technology solutions was becoming increasingly urgent. More than six years in, we have a proven, industry-leading product that has been embraced by more than 300 organizations. But with the advent of AI, news organizations are approaching another inflection point in how readers get the news. And so I spend a good deal of my time these days talking to publishers, technologists, and industry experts to understand how we help publishers adapt to the changes at hand and the changes on the horizon. The solutions will come from many sources. Our job is to make it easy for publishers to identify and embrace those solutions as seamlessly as possible so they can continue to focus on journalism that makes a difference.

Hayley: What’s a recent success story you’d like to share about how Newspack has improved a LION member business’s sustainability?

Kinsey: It’s one thing to build great tools. It’s another to ensure that folks are getting the most out of them. Last year, we launched an initiative we’re calling the Revenue Development Program to help publishers drive maximum value from the platform.

The program marries technology with training, coaching, and peer support to help publishers optimize their use of our tools and grow revenue. Participants consistently say the program delivers the right mix of strategic clarity, hands-on support, and peer connection to help them make meaningful progress fast, whether they are working on newsletter engagement, reader revenue strategies, or advertising tactics. The Journal, part of the Kansas Leadership Center, is a great example of an RDP success story. After members of the team went through the initial six group sessions over a seven-week sprint of the program’s Reader Revenue Track, they increased their weekly average revenue by 235% and their paid supporter revenue by 107%. 

So far, the RDP has driven more than $4.7 million in value added for the more than 100 publishers who participated, many of them LION members.

Hayley: What’s one thing you’ve seen in the past year that excites you about the independent news industry? And what’s something you’d like to see more folks focusing on moving forward?

Kinsey: Perhaps the most encouraging development is that the business sophistication of the industry is steadily improving. The editorial DNA of LION publishers was always strong. But increasingly, we see evidence that publishers who may have founded their businesses with an editorial purpose top of mind are developing the business chops required to reliably sustain that editorial mission.

San Diego’s inewsource, a LION member, has seen gains in traffic, time on page, and newsletter signups through careful attention to the user experience together with a focus on business impact.

It gives them a much more secure foundation on which to address the challenge confronting every publisher, which is to find ways to increase the size of their audience and drive even deeper engagement despite shifting news consumption habits and the uncertainties surrounding the impact of AI.

Hayley: Are there any upcoming initiatives that Newspack is working on that you’d like to preview for us?

Kinsey: In addition to continuing to expand our core services, we are pursuing partnerships with a variety of leading innovators whose services will give publishers new ways of presenting their journalism and reaching their most engaged, loyal audiences. They include Everlit, which provides AI-driven text-to-audio conversion, Pugpig, a best-in-class app developer, and Stylebot, a modern style guide for digital publishing. We’ll be previewing these and other partnerships at the upcoming LION Summit.

Hayley: What’s the best way for LION members and others to try or learn more about Newspacks’ services?

Kinsey: Visit us at https://newspack.com/ or reach out to us directly at https://newspack.com/request-a-demo/.

Hayley: To close us out, what’re you looking forward to most at the 2025 Independent News Sustainability Summit and seventh annual LION Awards?

Kinsey: First and foremost, the opportunity to hear from LION publishers directly about what’s working, the challenges they see ahead, and the kind of support they need to meet those challenges.

Hayley: Thanks, Kinsey! We look forward to seeing you and your team in St. Louis.

Join us at the 2025 Independent News Sustainability Summit to meet fellow independent news leaders, supporters, and funders.