LION Publishers launches new Sustainability Audit Dashboard

At LION Publishers, we’ve spent the past four years aggregating key business information from the nearly 600 independent newsrooms that have taken a LION Sustainability Audit and sharing subsequent analyses on the current state of the field.

Now, we’re ready to democratize access to our latest data.

We’re proud to introduce the LION Publishers Sustainability Audit Dashboard, an interactive, quarterly updated tool that displays powerful data from the Audit, which evaluates the overall business health of local, independent online newsrooms.

Made possible by funding from the Google News Initiative, the dashboard offers deep insights into the independent media ecosystem, available publicly for the first time, and provides actionable takeaways for individual publishers and those working hard to support them. 

Currently, it showcases information from the nearly 450 newsrooms that have completed an Audit since 2025, when we launched the self-service version of the assessment. This includes data from the 205 news providers that received a Closing Coverage Gaps grant from Press Forward in 2024. We couldn’t have compiled this volume of information so quickly without their partnership. In addition to the Audits, those 205 newsrooms also receive strategic business coaching to strengthen their resilience.

From Press Forward’s executive director, Dale Anglin, “The [LION] Audits have helped create one of the most comprehensive datasets we’ve seen on small and midsize local news organizations. That’s giving us a much clearer picture of what these newsrooms are facing, where they’re succeeding, and where support can make the biggest difference.”

For privacy reasons, the dashboard doesn’t reveal all data collected through the Audit, but it highlights critical business outcomes, like revenue, audience size, and staffing, and reveals the why and how behind those outcomes through the implementation of processes, policies, and tools. 

“LION’s work these last few years leads up to this point. We’re letting the data from hundreds of news businesses speak for itself,” said Chris Krewson, executive director of LION Publishers. “It’s the first time the public can really see under the hood of the independent news sector.”

All this to say, the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and publicly available dataset on independent news organizations is now at your fingertips.

Who the dashboard is for – and how to use it

The dashboard benefits anyone invested in the independent news ecosystem, and you can use it to find specific information tailored to your needs and interests. If you’re a(n)…

• Independent news publisher: You can see how news businesses like yours stack up by reviewing relevant quantitative metrics and key indicators. (And if you’ve already taken an Audit, you can get a broader view than what’s included in your individualized report.)
  • Sample question: Is my annual revenue aligned with that of other newsrooms of my size and tax status?
  • How to find your answer: On the left-hand side of the dashboard, filter by “Tax Status,” then select an “Overall Stage Assignment” that best represents your business.
• Local, regional, or national funder, or another journalism support organization: You can see what newsrooms at different stages of sustainability need most to stabilize and grow, which can help you make more scalable, strategic investments that strengthen the overall field. (And if you partner with LION to provide Audits to your grantees or news businesses you work with, you can get a custom dashboard to better track your impact.)
  • Sample question: What do newer news businesses need most to improve their operations?
  • How to find your answer: Using that same filtering capability on the left-hand side, select “Preparing” from “Overall Stage Assignment,” then select “Operational Resilience” under “Sustainability Pillar.” After filtering, see the “Key Indicator Accomplishment” chart on the bottom left. 
• Researcher, academic, or someone interested in broader trends: You can see how organizations across the ecosystem develop and how they vary depending on, among other characteristics, their product and revenue mixes.
  • Sample question: Do news businesses that create social media-specific content have more newsletter subscribers? 
  • How to find your answer: Filter by “News Products,” starting with “Creates Social Media Content,” to compare with the global median.

Here’s a short video that also walks you through how to use the filters.

A deeper example

Let’s dig into money – something we know is top of mind for every independent publisher. Here’s some data that’s readily available: 

• The median revenue for publishers in our dataset is $327,500 annually, but it’s $446,000 for nonprofits and $247,000 for for-profits. 
• A third of news businesses have only one revenue stream that accounts for more than 15% of their total revenue; nearly three-quarters have only two or fewer such streams. 
• 69% of news businesses set regular revenue goals, but only 45% have a dedicated staff member focused on revenue generation, and even fewer (22%) track loyal users (those most likely to convert from engagement to financial supporters). 

You can slice this data further to see that businesses with print products have higher annual revenue than the median publisher but lower digital audience figures. Or that organizations that earn from memberships have nearly 75% more newsletter subscribers than those that don’t.

The dashboard also offers glimpses into the paths toward sustainability. The top quarter of publishers, those in the Growing or Sustaining stages, have triple the revenue, monthly web users, newsletter subscribers, and full-time staff compared to the total dataset. These businesses are also much more likely to have dedicated revenue staff and a comprehensive business plan, among other key indicators of sustainability. (Read more about the Sustaining stage in this recent post.)

Next steps

You can view the dashboard on LION’s website here. If you’re a LION member who hasn’t taken an Audit yet, you can do so at any time here. If you’re a funder, a fellow journalism support organization, or another entity interested in providing Audits for the news businesses you work with, reach out to sustainabilityaudits@lionpublishers.com. 

Just want to share a thought or question? We’d also love to hear from you at sustainabilityaudits@lionpublishers.com.