Meet the 17 winners of the 2026 LION Sustainability Awards

Last night, we celebrated the 2026 LION Publishers’ Sustainability Awards at the Independent News Sustainability Summit in San Diego. 58 LION member finalists were honored across the 10 award categories, with 17 LION members taking trophies home.

This year’s ceremony and celebration were open to all ticket-holding attendees, and vibes were high in the packed party space. LION Community Manager Natalie Van Hoozer kicked off the winner announcements, with support from our sponsors at the Center for Community Media at CUNY and Google.

LION’s Executive Director Chris Krewson wrapped up the ceremony by presenting a special acknowledgment to the eleven LION members currently in the Sustaining stage of LION’s updated Audit maturity model: Bridge Michigan, Cardinal News, Connecticut Mirror, Fort Worth Report, San Jose Spotlight, Technical.ly, The Baltimore Banner, The Daily Memphian, The Nevada Independent, The Salt Lake Tribune, and VTDigger. Based on the hundreds of organizations we’ve worked with over the last six years, sustaining news businesses have built foundational and mission-critical operational and financial infrastructure, and we can’t wait to share more about these organizations’ successes.

It’s our eighth time hosting the LION Awards program, and every year we hear the same resounding note from our panel of expert judges: amidst an increasingly challenging media environment, LION organizations remain dedicated to meeting the moment with creative, thoughtful solutions that center their communities. Read on to see what the judges had to say about this year’s winners.

LION board members selected the Transformational Impact Award winner this year, and members voted to select John Adams at Montana Free Press as our Community Member of the Year.

We’re deeply grateful to our 2026 Summit and LION Awards sponsors, whose support makes all of this possible. Thank you to The Carol Oppenheim and Jerome S. Lamet Charitable Fund, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Google, Prebys Foundation, AAN Publishers, Alternative Newsweekly Foundation, BlueLena, Broadstreet, The Center for Community Media at the Craig Newmark Graduate School at CUNY, Indiegraf, Lede, New Media Ventures, Newspack, Report for America, Reynolds Journalism Institute, Jobcase, The Lenfest Institute, The New York Times, American Journalism Project, Meedan, RecruitLayer, and SciLine.

Congratulations to all of our 2026 LION Sustainability Award winners!

Use the quick links below to scroll to specific sections.

LION Business of the Year
New LION Business of the Year
Operational Resilience Award
Financial Health Award
Public Service Award
Community Engagement Award
Collaboration of the Year
Product of the Year
Transformational Impact Award
Community Member of the Year

LION Business of the Year

Recognizes a LION member that has made significant progress toward achieving sustainability through strengthening its operational resilience, financial health, and journalistic impact.

Micro/Small Revenue Tier

Less than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: LOOKOUT

The team at LOOKOUT built out its staffing infrastructure by standardizing employment policies, implementing comprehensive employer-paid benefits, and making its first two full-time hires in reporting and earned revenue. LOOKOUT also implemented an integrated customer relationship management system, restructured financial accounts, and expanded fundraising campaigns. These changes drove a 43.51% increase in reader revenue, bringing in over $322,000 by April 2026. These operational and financial developments supported journalistic impact, including reporting capacity that led to the release of a transgender woman from ICE detention and held local institutions accountable. LOOKOUT is now expanding coverage to Colorado, with a launch centered on community events.

From the judges: “LOOKOUT clearly demonstrates that it is not simply reacting to growth opportunities but instead approaching expansion in a highly pragmatic, researched, and disciplined way. The organization appears thoughtful about sustainability, staffing structure, audience/content product validation, operational infrastructure, and long-term scalability. The evidence provided throughout the application and supporting documentation reflects an organization that understands how to balance mission-driven journalism with the realities of building a durable business model.”

Medium/Large Revenue Tier

More than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: Florida Trib

The Florida Trib — formerly The Tributary — had a transformative year that included changes to strengthen operational, financial, and journalistic systems. The Trib demonstrated operational discipline in LION’s Sustainability 360 cohort, which increased their capacity for financial growth. They diversified and increased revenue through major new donors, event sponsorships, and ticketed events. Their reporting reached 10 million Floridians through 105 partner outlets and won six Florida Society of News Editors first-place awards, including a gold medal for public service. Reporting in the past year also triggered federal investigations, policy reversals, and checks on government spending. And the Trib built partnerships that will expand impact over the long term. 

From the judges: “The expansion and rebranding of the Florida Trib was an incredible undertaking. The all-encompassing, careful, and strategic planning they embraced over the past year demonstrated an intentional approach to sustainability across the board. On top of this, I was really impressed by their attention to adopting models and practices from elsewhere and adapting them to their local ecosystem, while being inclusive of the community’s input and partnership opportunities.”

Scroll back to the top.

New LION Business of the Year

Recognizes a LION member — founded after January 1, 2024 — that exhibits, even in its very early stages, a clearly defined commitment to working toward achieving sustainability through operational resilience, financial health, and journalistic impact.

WINNER: The Overlook News

The Overlook is a nonprofit newsroom serving Catskills communities that have not had consistent, independent local coverage. Since launching, they’ve produced public-service reporting that helps residents understand and respond to urgent issues, from interviews on local elections to coverage of a prolonged water outage that helped prompt county and state action. Accountability reporting from The Overlook has also examined housing conditions, public safety, local government decisions, and cultural issues with broader civic significance. The newsroom has earned deep reader trust, statewide journalism recognition, and enough community support to hire its first full-time reporter and continue growing.

From the judges: “Super impressive growth, backed by a clear strategy and a compelling articulation of journalistic impact. I especially appreciated the thoughtful mix of revenue streams and the intentional cultivation of major donors across the communities served. It’s promising to see their model of leveraging philanthropic support from more affluent areas to sustain accessible, high-quality local journalism in other parts of the region.”

Scroll back to the top.

Operational Resilience Award

Recognizes a LION member that has made significant progress toward strengthening its operational resilience by establishing processes, policies, and a people-centered company culture designed to support staff, manage growth, and promote sustainability.

Micro/Small Revenue Tier

Less than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: 9 Millones

9 Millones prioritized operational resilience by dividing responsibilities among four key leadership roles. This new structure reduced burnout and increased capacity for staff to work on revenue generation and audience growth. They optimized workflows by overhauling meeting structures, creating editorial templates, and migrating to a more efficient communication tool. To further support their team, 9 Millones instituted quarterly, facilitated nature retreats. They also became a worker-owned LLC, embodying their vision of community-owned media.

From the judges: “I appreciate how they shared anonymous employee feedback that shows how satisfied people are with the organization and the efforts that have been made with freelancers. This application shows thoughtful engagement at many levels – leadership, staff, freelancers, and contributors. As the organization has grown, they are making efforts to be worker-led, and I appreciate them sharing the conversation around their legal agreements and status.”

Medium/Large Revenue Tier

More than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: New York Focus

In the past year, New York Focus made deliberate investments in the people and culture that make an organization truly resilient. They completed a collective bargaining agreement with the New York Focus Union, codifying pay structures, health benefits, severance, AI policies, intellectual property protocols, and diversity hiring practices. Taking these steps allowed the organization to build a stronger relationship between staff and leadership. The organization invested in culture through staff surveys, team outings, and listening. They secured a permanent office space, giving their team a physical home for the first time. And they built financial reserves so staff can genuinely count on New York Focus, not just as a good place to work today, but as a sustainable institution they can build their lives around.

From the judges: “What stood out most in the judging process was New York Focus’s understanding that operational resilience starts with a focus on organizational trust. Every initiative reinforced the same goal: making New York Focus a place where people can build sustainable careers. The collective bargaining agreement, financial stability, staff listening process, and investment in organizational culture work together to create a resilient newsroom built on trust, clarity, and long-term thinking. Their investment in physical space and strong reserves captures the heart of operational resilience: prioritizing an organization where staff feel they can commit their careers and grow alongside the organization.”

Scroll back to the top.

Financial Health Award

Recognizes a LION member that has made significant progress toward strengthening its financial health by developing a plan for earning money, managing a budget, and/or monitoring revenue and expenses to extend its financial runway. This can also include the development of a successful and creative strategy to grow or diversify revenue while positively impacting their financial health.

Micro/Small Revenue Tier

Less than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: Fredericksburg Free Press

By introducing a number of creative revenue streams, the Fredericksburg Free Press has grown its revenue by 15% in the past year, putting the money to use by hiring an award-winning visual journalist. A BlueLena-powered membership program helped them secure $40,000 from 810 recurring donors, including ticketed community fundraising events. Fredericksburg Free Press also developed a new revenue stream as the official publication of record for five local jurisdictions, which is projected to bring in up to $65,000 from paid public notices. Budget management is another unifying piece of the organization’s work. Each month, the all-volunteer board’s executive committee conducts a financial analysis, comparing actual expenditures against projections. This framework has optimized cash flow and supports staff growth.

From the judges: “Fredericksburg Free Press’s strategic plan and current balance of revenue streams is excellent. Their projection of 15% revenue growth for 2026 over 2025 is aggressive, but backed up by a realistic, diversified, revenue strategy. Most impressively, FFP has demonstrated they don’t just understand the imperative to reduce dependence on philanthropic grant funding, they are doing it, by being serious about engaging with their community in fun ways.”

Medium/Large Revenue Tier

More than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: Mission Local

Mission Local extended its operational runway by scaling its budget from $720,000 in 2023 to over $3 million in 2025. The organization’s multi-faceted revenue plan leaned into individual giving with upgraded fundraising platforms, resulting in a 139% increase in recurring revenue and an increase from $550,000 to $2 million in individual donations over two years. A 2025 fundraiser to hire a full-time immigration reporter raised $300K from 600+ donors in just two months. Mission Local manages this growth and monitors financial health by working with a dedicated finance chair to conduct granular monthly reviews of budgets versus actuals. This process ensures they consistently stay under budget on expenses while increasing annual revenue growth.

From the judges: “This is an organization that has methodically and thoughtfully applied lessons learned over the past 15 years of nonprofit local news. Mission Local has systematically used an audience- and donor-development process to grow individual giving (the most sustainable type over the long term). Equally important, they’ve recognized that some of those $25-a-month givers have the capacity to give $2,500 — and have built a major-donor program using the best practices from the entire nonprofit landscape. This is financial management done right.”

Scroll back to the top.

Public Service Award

Recognizes a LION member that has consistently produced journalism with meaningful and demonstrable impact in its communities.

Micro/Small Revenue Tier

Less than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: Conecta Arizona

Conecta Arizona treats immigration as a daily public‑service beat, not a one‑off project. Through their WhatsApp newsroom, La Hora del Cafecito, they respond to hundreds of questions a day about raids, checkpoints, asylum, court dates, and deportations. The team then turns repeated questions into clear guides and investigations in Spanish that expose patterns of abuse and misinformation. Conecta Arizona’s recurring segment “Que te lo explique el abogado” brings trusted, Spanish‑speaking immigration attorneys to WhatsApp, their website, social platforms, and YouTube to break down rights and legal processes in practical terms families can act on. They’ve also extended this mission by organizing a HEFAT safety training for Latino and border reporters.

From the judges: “Conecta Arizona’s public service commitment is well established, and this entry reflects that track record. Their community engagement work is among the strongest in the country, and it shows here: from organized initiatives to the tangible evidence shared throughout, there’s a real sense of a newsroom that has earned deep trust with its audience. The distribution strategy is equally impressive and clearly intentional, demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of where their community actually is.”

Medium/Large Revenue Tier

More than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: Block Club Chicago

During the federal government’s Operation Midway Blitz, Block Club Chicago produced investigative reporting and pursued legal action to hold the federal government accountable for its treatment of community members and journalists. When federal agents attacked four Block Club reporters with pepper-spray bullets as they covered protests, Block Club sued the federal government. This led a federal judge to grant a temporary order barring federal agents from using chemical weapons and other force against journalists, protecting reporters across northern Illinois. Block Club also exposed systemic illegalities that aided defense attorneys, with lawyers using Block Club stories to build cases for releasing detained people. The organization has empowered local communities with life-saving information and mutual aid networks.

From the judges: “Block Club Chicago’s coverage of Operation Midway Blitz represents all that is best about great journalism. It’s an authentic first draft of history, not just in its real-time reporting as ICE’s actions unfolded on the streets of Chicago, but in its masterful after action account, Chicago Under Siege. Thanks to its wide-ranging and smart use of social media, the story reached audiences that otherwise would never have seen what was going on nor had as clear an understanding of the situation in Chicago. Outstanding work all around.”

Scroll back to the top.

Community Engagement Award

Recognizes a LION member that has achieved general excellence in journalistic impact by demonstrating an intentional and systematized approach to community engagement that consistently tells stories for, with, and by the people they are working to serve. 

Micro/Small Revenue Tier

Less than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: Caribbean Television Network

Caribbean Television Network (CTN) produced original service journalism for the Haitian diaspora during a period of acute immigration uncertainty: an explainer on Massachusetts Real ID and Standard Driver’s License eligibility; a Know Your Rights guide for ICE encounters; and a series on what to know before crossing into Canada. Each piece was produced in English, French, and Haitian Creole and distributed across video, web, newsletter, and social platforms. With stories stemming from conversations with community members, the goal of this coverage was to replace abstract policy coverage with practical, decision-ready guidance. CTN built its journalism around the questions its audience asked, in the languages they speak, with the solutions they actually need.

From the judges: “The listening process is well documented: named locations, named court cases, and specific community questions traceable to specific stories. Publishing in English, French, and Haitian Creole is core to how CTN operates, and helping community members connect directly with congressional offices goes beyond what most newsrooms would do.”

Medium/Large Revenue Tier

More than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: Kansas City Defender

When Kansas City’s last full-service grocery in a Black neighborhood closed in August 2025, the Kansas City Defender did more than cover it. After months of reporting on federal agricultural cuts and co-hosting an emergency town hall with Kansas City’s oldest Black newspaper, they launched the Hamer Free Food Program, the city’s first Black-led Community Supported Agriculture initiative. Every major Black farmer came together for the first time, delivering 100 free boxes in the food desert. This offering was paired with the Defender’s first-ever print editions, embedded with civic education. Sixty Community Food Leaders, mostly Black residents under 30, led the effort. The program circulated $7,000 into Black farms, built lasting community partnerships, and has generated a new contracted revenue stream as the program scales to a community-owned cooperative.

From the judges: “The Kansas City Defender moved quickly to coordinate key players in their community to feed their neighbors. After proving the concept, they handed the program to a community organization and created a revenue stream for themselves. This is a quick and nimble model for solutions-focused community engagement that plays to the strengths of journalists who hold information, understand community needs, and can see the whole ecosystem but rarely get the chance to actively connect all the parts.”

Scroll back to the top.

Collaboration of the Year

Recognizes a LION member that has successfully formed a short-term or long-term collaboration with at least one other organization to positively affect their journalistic impact, financial health, and/or operational resilience. Entries can include both business-focused and/or editorial-focused collaborations; however, the most successful entries will be able to demonstrate a positive impact on more than one of LION’s pillars of sustainability (journalistic impact, financial health, and operational resilience).

Micro/Small Revenue Tier

Less than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: Tucson Spotlight

Tucson Spotlight has built a collaborative model that extends its reach and serves communities that no other local outlet is reaching. Through a formal partnership with the City of South Tucson, they deliver print journalism to a predominantly Hispanic community of 5,600 residents with limited digital access. By hosting O’odham Media and producing a physical newsletter for Tohono O’odham Nation residents, they provide Indigenous journalism a home within one of Southern Arizona’s most profound news deserts. Through collaborations with Arizona Luminaria, the Local News Initiative of Southern Arizona, and the University of Arizona, they produce journalism and civic events that no single organization could generate alone. Each partnership demonstrates that sustainable community journalism is built on relationships, not resources.

From the judges: “This entry is a remarkable example of what collaboration can do for a $142K news/civil organization. Teaming up with municipal orgs, university journalism programs, and a native storytelling platform are demonstrative of a commitment to serving the community with accessible information vital to the needs of the community it serves. Hard copy access in a broadband challenged community, bilingual coverage, and in person events are all examples of how this org is meeting the information needs of a community that has few resources. Bravo!”

Medium/Large Revenue Tier

More than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: Arizona Luminaria

Arizona Luminaria’s investigative series on mobile home parks shows how strategic collaboration can multiply a small newsroom’s journalistic and financial impact. The Tucson-based nonprofit partnered with Arizona Public Media to co-produce a documentary that has reached more than 145,000 viewers; worked alongside community organizing group Poder Casas Móviles to access stories that would otherwise have gone untold; and secured fellowship funding to sustain a complex, multi-year investigation. The reporting prompted the Arizona Attorney General to file consumer fraud lawsuits, issue statewide consumer alerts, and secure refunds for residents who had been systematically overbilled for utilities. A public documentary screening generated a donation that Arizona Luminaria leveraged as a membership match campaign, turning editorial impact into community support.

From the judges: “This submission makes a compelling case for collaboration as a sustainability strategy. Rather than describing partnerships in broad terms, Arizona Luminaria traces a clear sequence — investigative reporting, documentary co-production, public screening, major gift, membership match — and demonstrates how each step created the conditions for the next.”

Scroll back to the top.

Product of the Year

Recognizes a LION member that developed a successful and creative short-term or long-term product to strengthen their journalistic impact, financial health, and/or operational resilience. We use News Product Alliance’s definition of a news product: “A defined article, series, program, or other content created by a news organization to meet the needs of news consumers, membership and subscription programs, and streaming services.”

Micro/Small Revenue Tier

Less than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: Ethiopique LLC

Ethiopique LLC developed an event-based community engagement product that transformed informal gatherings into a repeatable journalism and revenue model. Through ‘Fishing with Ethiopique’ and its ‘Adopt a Road’ community cleanup initiative, they created relaxed community spaces where Amharic-speaking immigrants could openly share concerns, build trust, and shape newsroom coverage. These interactions led to new service products, including a citizenship quiz now available on Ethiopique’s website, developed in direct response to community needs. Between June and November 2025, the model also generated more than $5,000 in sponsorship revenue from local businesses and local government partners, creating a new source of repeatable revenue.

From the judges: “This is a clever product that moves beyond what we traditionally define as “journalism,” getting past standard headlines and stories into true community engagement. By understanding the audiences’ unique needs and meeting them “where they are” through fishing trips and community cleanup events, it creates an engaging environment that’s comfortable and familiar to the audience and respects what’s important to Ethiopique’s community. This helps the audience become more comfortable in interacting with Ethiopique’s staff, which in turn improves newsgathering and audience understanding of the publication’s coverage. And most importantly, it’s both iterative, as the staff learns from each event and applies that learning to improving future audience outreach, and has produced a clear revenue stream from sponsorships. I was really jazzed to see what Ethiopique is doing with this program, and it’s inspired me to start thinking more about out-of-the-box ways to bring journalism to audiences in innovative formats.”

Medium/Large Revenue Tier

More than $500,000 in annual revenue

WINNER: Pittsburgh’s Public Source

What happens when journalism shows up on your block, not just in your inbox? That’s one of the questions Pittsburgh’s Public Source explored in 2025 through its neighborhood zines, which are short, tangible collections of stories, reflections, and resources created with and for a specific community. The neighborhood zines helped Public Source build new audiences, attract donors and sponsors, and help more Pittsburghers see themselves and their communities in its journalism.

From the judges: “Pittsburgh’s Public Source’s innovative approach brought to life a hyper-local print product, rooted in audience feedback, iterative from the design to the execution of it, and that also activates multiple revenue sources. The neighborhood zines are not only an outstanding, successful print product made for and with neighborhoods; they are also the forefront tool of a larger multimedia strategy that involves different outlets like social media, digital copies, and in-person events. The key distinction is their very thoughtful and intentional approach, which prioritizes beautiful design and high journalism standards to foment trust with their communities, which ultimately converts readers into new donors who support their wider journalism mission.”

Scroll back to the top.

Transformational Impact Award

Recognizes a LION member that has achieved a transformational impact for its organization through dedication to improving operational resilience, financial health, and/or journalistic impact. This member organization is not only making an impact internally, but their growth has also had a positive effect on the communities they serve and the independent news ecosystem. LION members and industry experts nominated LION organizations for this award, with winners selected by a panel of LION board members.

WINNER: Te Lo Cuento News

Te Lo Cuento News underwent a fundamental transformation, from a media outlet lacking structure and focus while covering general international news, into a mission-driven organization with a clear operational, editorial, and financial strategy centered on serving migrant communities in the Midwest. The team also transformed how they produce and distribute their journalism, shifting from traditional formats to a model designed around audience behavior. TLCN’s reporting is delivered through platforms where their audience members are, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Comprehensive internal changes, including revenue diversification, ultimately enabled Te Lo Cuento News to scale its geographic reach across multiple states, increasing annual viewership to over 55 million.

From the judges: “This organization has clearly had a sea change in how they sustainably create high impact, high relevance, resonant news. The juxtaposition of real/meaningful revenue diversification and a new model of community focused journalism truly speaks to all three sustainability pillars.”

Scroll back to the top.

Community Member of the Year (selected by members)

This award recognizes an individual affiliated with a LION member organization who exemplifies LION’s core values. This person routinely goes above and beyond to support, acknowledge, and celebrate their fellow news entrepreneurs.

WINNER: John Adams, Founder & Executive Director, Montana Free Press (Helena, MT)

From the nomination: Last year, I got a call from my friend John Adams, the founder and executive director of Montana Free Press. He wanted to enlist my involvement on the steering committee for an idea to raise awareness about the importance of local journalism. The result? This year’s inaugural Local News Day, which galvanized more than 1,200 newsrooms, nearly 200 partners, and 14 sponsors in a collective call to action. It’s hard to get people to collaborate in one newsroom. But John managed to achieve this task with thousands of newsrooms. This is just one (albeit huge) example of John’s entrepreneurial drive and communal spirit that also underpins LION’s core values. Over the last ten years, John has openly shared his experiences and insights in the nonprofit news space, fostering a sense of community and shared mission around solving the challenges that come with creating and maintaining a sustainable news organization.

Scroll back to the top.

---

Special thanks to this year’s volunteer judges, without whom the 2026 LION Sustainability Awards would not be possible: Aldana Vales, Alisa Barba, Alvin Chow, Andrew Losowsky, AX Mina, Bene Cipolla, Beth Potter, Cassandra Etienne, Celia Wu, Christian Monterrosa, Clara Soteras, David Grant, Dennis Robaugh, Elaine Ramirez, Eli Flournoy, Erika L. Hobbs, Fran Reilly, Gunita Singh, Hanaa’ Tameez, James Breiner, Jennifer Hack, Jennifer Mizgata, Jessica Morrison, Joel Abrams, John Davidow, Jonathan Kealing, Kat Duncan, Kate Myers, Laura Amico, Luanne Rife, Mark Potts, Matthew Green, Marita Pérez Díaz, Max Resnik, Mercy Orengo, Neil Chase, Rebekah Monson, Richard Eugene Brown, Samuel Gross, Shane Pekny, Shannan Bowen, Shira Center, Stacey Peters, Stephen Jefferson, Susanne B. Beck, Todd Stauffer, Steve Katz, Tom Davidson, Wendy Rosenfield, Yan Wu, and Yona Harvey.