Join our News Entrepreneur Community on Slack
If you're an established or aspiring independent news publisher — or you're just interested in learning more about the industry — you can request to join our News Entrepreneur Community! This is a Slack group designed to help publishers learn from each other by sharing resources, templates, advice, and lessons learned from their work.
The Slack space now has 1,500+ members and includes channels focused on several topics, including revenue, business operations, tools and technology, diversity, equity and inclusion, training, grants, and other business topics, as well as private discussion channels for LION members.
Popular public channels on the NEC Slack include:
- #biz-operations: Share your questions and insights about the behind-the-scenes work of running a business, e.g., accounting, hiring, HR, contractor payments, etc.
- #job-grants-fellowships: A channel to post job, internship, and fellowship opportunities, as well as awards competitions for independent news publishers.
- #policy: Do you have questions or info to share related to legislation/policy in your state that could impact your independent news publishing business? This is the channel for gathering additional context and aligning with LION and other members.
- #revenue: Use this channel to share your questions and insights about how to earn revenue as an independent local news business.
- #training: A forum to ask questions and share info related to trainings and learning opportunities of interest to news entrepreneurs.
Here are a few examples of the types of questions and topics discussed in the News Entrepreneur Community:
- How should I set prices for my newsletter advertising?
- What's the right time to start paying myself as a founder?
- What tools or services can I use to translate content?
- How can I find a co-founder or partner for a startup venture?
- What CMS works best for a local news publisher?
Community Guidelines
Check out our LION Publishers Community Guidelines for more details.
Privacy
All private channels and direct messages are considered “off the record,” meaning they shouldn’t be screenshotted, quoted, or shared publicly in any way without explicit permission from the person who posted it. The public channels can be considered “on the record” — but it’s still a good habit to ask before sharing anything outside this community.
Reciprocity
The LION community is full of smart, generous people who go the extra mile to help answer questions and share expertise. We hope you’ll tap into that collective knowledge, as well as contribute to it, so that we can continue to build on the spirit of reciprocity that makes the LION community so strong. We adhere to a non-solicitation policy, as our Slack community is not a marketplace for selling products, services, or story pitches.
Respect
We want to leave space for lively conversations, and even disagreements, in this group, but we expect those conversations to always remain respectful and civil. As moderators, we will not tolerate personal attacks, offensive language, or harassment of any kind, and we reserve the right to warn and/or remove anyone who doesn’t meet these standards. Not sure if something crosses the line? Please check with a moderator before posting it, or err on the side of caution and step away.
Request an Invite
Once you request an invitation to join the News Entrepreneur Community, you should receive an email invite from Slack within two business days. If you don’t hear back from us or see an invite in your inbox, you can follow up by emailing membership@lionpublishers.com.