Meet the winners of the 2024 LION Sustainability Awards

Eighteen independent news businesses took the stage Thursday as winners of the 2024 LION Sustainability Awards, presented by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Google during the Independent News Sustainability Summit in Chicago.

The LION Awards celebrate outstanding, sustainable local journalism centered on LION’s three pillars of sustainability: operational resilience, financial health, and journalistic impact. This year, we received 200 entries, each representing the incredible, impactful work our members do every day.

From 200 entries, we recognized 56 finalists from 40 organizations. And Thursday evening, in a packed room of almost 300 supporters of local news, emcees Anita Li, LION board member and founder of The Green Line, and former LION Associate Director of Member Education Lisa Heyamoto, now VP of Portfolio Learning at the American Journalism Project, with the help of several sponsors, revealed the 21 winning entries. 

An independent panel of judges reviewed all eight award categories. Additionally, LION staff selected the winner of our Community Member of the Year Award, which honors an individual who exemplifies LION’s core values. This year’s winner is Camille Padilla Dalmau, the founder and CEO of 9 Millones and a 2024 LION community ambassador. LION staff also picked this year’s new Transformational Impact Award winner, which went to the Johnson County Post.

Thanks to generous support from our sponsors, we also awarded $59,500 cash prizes to 18 unique LION member organizations — each winning entry received at least $2,500.

Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2024 LION Sustainability Awards! Read more about each winner’s work below.

• 🏆 9 Millones, Winner: Community Engagement Award (Small Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 Altavoz Lab, Winner: Collaboration of the Year (Micro/Small Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 Block Club Chicago, Winner: LION Business of the Year Award (Medium/Large Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 Borderless Magazine, Winner: Journalistic Impact Award (Small Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 Camille Padilla Dalmau, founder and CEO of 9 Millones, Winner: Community Member of the Year Award
• 🏆 Canopy Atlanta, Winner: Collaboration of the Year (Medium Revenue Tier)
• 🏆🏆 CivicLex, Winner: Business of the Year (Micro/Small Revenue Tier) and Operational Resilience Award  (Small Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 El Tímpano, Winner: Community Engagement Award (Large Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 Johnson County Post, Winner: Transformational Impact Award
• 🏆🏆 MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, Winner: Operational Resilience Award (Medium/Large Revenue Tier) and Financial Health Award (Medium/Large Revenue Tier) 
• 🏆 Planet Detroit, Winner: Financial Health Award (Small Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 Red Bank Green, Winner: Community Engagement Award (Micro Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 Santa Cruz Local, Winner: Product of the Year (Micro/Small Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 Spotlight PA, Winner: Collaboration of the Year (Large Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 Technical.ly, Winner: Journalistic Impact Award (Large Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 The Appeal, Winner: Journalistic Impact Award (Medium Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 The Investigative Journalism Foundation, Winner: Product of the Year (Medium/Large Revenue Tier)
• 🏆 The Pulp, Winner: New LION Business of the Year
• 🏆 The Reporting Project, Winner: Journalistic Impact Award (Micro Revenue Tier)

Presenting Sponsors

Google
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Gold Sponsor

Carol Oppenheim and Jerome S Lamet Charitable Fund

Bronze Sponsors

Democracy Fund 
Indiegraf
The MacArthur Foundation
Reynolds Journalism Institute
The Joyce Foundation

Community Sponsors

Ballotpedia
BlueLena
Lede AI
Newspack
News Revenue Hub
The Robert R. McCormick Foundation

Supporting Sponsor

Broadstreet

Special thanks to this year’s volunteer judges, without whom the 2024 LION Sustainability Awards would not be possible: Adam Schweigert, Adriana Lacy, Amanda Zamora, AmyJo Brown, Andy Pergam, Anika Gupta, Ankita M. Kumar, Anne Galloway, Ariel Zirulnick, Ashley Woods Branch, AX Mina, Bene Cipolla, Bill Carey, Brooke Warner, Christopher Brennan, Claire Tran, Cristina Tardaguila, Datejie Green, David Grant, David Chivers, Dylan Smith, Elaine Tassy, Fran Reilly, Gabriel Sama, Graham Watson-Ringo, Gunita Singh, Hanaa’ Tameez, James Breiner, Jennifer Mizgata, Jessica Morrison, John Davidow, Karolle Rabarison, Kate Myers, Katie Mercer, Lee Nacozy, Maria Catalina Colmenares-Wiss, Mark Potts, Max Resnik, Melissa Chowning, Michaux Hood, Nicole Mastrangelo, Richard Brown, Sam Gross, Scott Rosenfield, Shannan Bowen, Stacey Peters, Todd Stauffer, Tom Davidson, Tom Kearney, Tony Stasiek, and Trish Terrell.

Organizational awards in eight categories were reviewed by an independent panel of judges. The Community Member of the Year Award and the Transformational Impact Award, which are awarded to an individual and/or organization, were selected by LION staff:

1. LION Business of the Year
2. New LION Business of the Year
3. Operational Resilience Award
4. Financial Health Award
5. Journalistic Impact Award
6. Community Engagement Award
7. Collaboration of the Year
8. Product of the Year
9. Community Member of the Year Award
10. Transformational Impact Award

Each category contains tiers reflecting the annual revenue of each recognized organization:

• Micro Tier: Less than $50,000 in annual revenue
• Small Tier: Between $50,000 and $500,000 in annual revenue
• Medium Tier: Between $500,000 and $1.1 million in annual revenue
• Large Tier: More than $1.1 million in annual revenue

In some categories, we have combined Micro and Small tiers or Medium and Large tiers. Each tier isn’t always reflected for each award category, and we made these decisions based on the number of applications we received. 

LION Business of the Year Award

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

Winner, Micro/Small Revenue Tier: CivicLex

CivicLex made transformational changes to their organizational and operational model, invested in staff retreats and wellness policies, grew two significant revenue streams, and built an organizational impact framework to help them track their progress. Their work has led to changes to city meetings, the creation of new local government positions, changes to their public school district’s social studies curriculum, and more.

From the judges: “Some might question whether producing information guides, hosting civic expos for high school kids, and curating thoughtful public conversations counts as journalism. We believe that what CivicLex is doing should be the future of local journalism: meeting people where they are, delivering information in a fun and accessible way, and making it all actionable to achieve real results in their community.”

Finalists: Excelsior Citizen and Red Bank Green

Winner, Medium/Large Revenue Tier: Block Club Chicago

Block Club Chicago made substantial and deliberate investments in their long-term financial and editorial sustainability by more than doubling their revenue staff and building specialized departments around primary revenue streams. Their new investigative team, The Watch, focuses on the long-underserved South and West sides.

From the judges: “With more than 130,000 newsletter subscribers and 2.7 million pageviews a month, Block Club Chicago exemplifies how savvy journalism can thrive in a major metropolis. Over the past 12 months, they have made exceptional progress through strategic investments. Operationally, they doubled the headcount of their revenue team and created specialized departments aligned with their primary revenue streams. The launch of new editorial teams, including The Watch and an Arts & Culture team, has significantly expanded their capacity to produce high-impact journalism, driving meaningful change and fostering deeper community engagement.” 

Finalists: New York Focus and The Appeal

New LION Business of the Year Award

Recognizes a LION member — founded after January 1, 2023 — 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 Pulp

The Pulp’s clearly defined startup strategy gave them the vision and runway to launch successful fundraising campaigns, build a supportive newsroom culture, and produce well-written and interesting content. In their first year, their annual revenue was more than $150,000. 

From the judges: “The Pulp’s smart startup strategy offers valuable lessons for established news organizations. They set clear financial goals, cultivated the culture they envisioned, and executed strong early fundraising campaigns. By quickly launching additional revenue streams and producing unique, engaging content not found elsewhere in their market, they’re ensuring long-term success.” 

Finalists: The Coronado News and The Investigative Journalism Foundation

Operational Resilience Award

Recognizes a LION member that has achieved transformational impact for their organization’s operational resilience by establishing processes, policies, and a company culture designed to support staff and manage growth in order to prevent burnout among the very people whose talent and buy-in are critical to their success.

Winner, Small Revenue Tier: CivicLex 

Last year, CivicLex supported their staff by updating job descriptions, investing in personal and professional development, creating a four-week paid vacation policy, instating monthly burnout check-ins, and streamlining communications via a new internal wiki. Their work laid the foundation for success for a growing team and organization.

From the judges: “CivicLex invested significant time and resources this past year to improve workplace culture, developing new policies and reorganizing staff roles based on feedback and organizational needs. In partnership with the executive director, half of their staff changed job titles and responsibilities, and each team member created a professional development track to align with their career goals. Staff played a key role in shaping these changes, offering input on collaboration and redefining their own roles.” 

Finalists: 2PuntosPlatform and Santa Cruz Local

Winner, Medium/Large Revenue Tier: MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

By investing in staff training and successfully navigating an executive transition, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism demonstrated how they value staff well-being, professional development, and input from staff and leadership.  

From the judges: “It has been a transformative year for MLK50, driven by their significant operational investments. From staff training to managing an executive transition, MLK50 has shown a strong commitment to valuing input from both staff and leadership, while prioritizing staff wellbeing and professional development. Leadership has not only been able to “dream about the long-term sustainability of MLK50,” but has also provided material support for staff members transitioning to new roles, taking maternity leave, or caring for sick family members.”

Finalists: Charlottesville Tomorrow and The Appeal

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.

Winner, Small Revenue Tier: Planet Detroit 

This year, Planet Detroit doubled their audience, web traffic, and reader revenue. Additionally, they attracted more than $283,000 in philanthropic investment and received more than $18,000 from 35 Impact Partners. 

From the judges: “Planet Detroit has showcased tangible evidence of their financial management and outlined a clear strategy for growth. They provided a solid foundation with two-year projections, which shows a firm grasp of its financial position and a revenue growth plan that is clearly aligned to its mission, with investments underway to increase local partnerships and direct audience revenue.” 

Finalists: CivicLex and Verified News Network (VNN) 

Winner, Medium/Large Revenue Tier: MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

In 2023, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism hired their first full-time development director and transitioned their chief strategy officer to full-time. Together, they have helped raise more than $2.4 million and improved the organization’s financial management. 

From the judges: “MLK50’s progress in growing and diversifying revenue while reducing financial risk is remarkable. The organization has expanded rapidly while implementing staff and planning processes for long-term sustainability. Their ambitious revenue goals seem achievable, and their financial transparency made it easy to assess their overall growth and the work behind their systems.”

Finalists: KHOL and Montana Free Press

Journalistic Impact Award

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

Winner, Micro Revenue Tier: The Reporting Project

The Reporting Project doggedly covered Intel’s 20-billion-dollar project to build the world’s largest computer-chip manufacturing campus. Their reporting allowed the community to hold companies and public officials accountable.

From the judges: “The Reporting Project showed clear impact from the diligent reporting on the impending Intel plant being built in the community, driving community response and civic engagement, and altering at least some of the outcomes.”

Finalists: Conecta Arizona and The Journal 425

Winner, Small Revenue Tier: Borderless Magazine 

Borderless Magazine embarked on a series of months-long, bilingual investigations into Chicago-run shelters housing migrants in inhumane conditions. Their work attracted international attention, a city investigation into one child’s death at a shelter, and the rallying of millions of dollars to support new arrivals.

From the judges: “Borderless truly centers the community in its approach and ensures that the people most impacted are involved at every step of the reporting process. The team did an exemplary job of articulating evidence of change, creating multiple touchpoints of engagement, and taking thoughtful steps to ensure the stories reach the intended audiences, including the people most impacted by the issues covered. The use of field canvassers to distribute printed stories to these communities was especially unique.”

Finalists: Boulder Reporting Lab, La Converse, and The Haitian Times

Winner, Medium Revenue Tier: The Appeal

The Appeal’s criminal justice reporting of a police killing in Phoenix led to the formation of two community coalitions and the introduction of two bills that would eliminate felony murder laws. After they had reported on conditions in Georgia jails, both state and federal senators launched investigations.

From the judges: “The Appeal effectively demonstrates its impact through specific examples of policy changes driven by its reporting and journalism co-created with the communities it serves, including incarcerated people. Most notably, The Appeal has a clear framework for defining and measuring its impact. Its Impact Report should be a model for other newsrooms aiming to articulate how their mission translates into real-world outcomes for their communities.”

Finalists: Charlottesville Tomorrow and State Affairs

Winner, Large Revenue Tier: Technical.ly

Technical.ly’s “Thriving” project explored economic mobility across American cities. To inform the project, they partnered with community organizations to host focus groups. They published over 50 multilingual articles and a 10-episode podcast, making the content accessible in English, Chinese, and Spanish.

From the judges: “The Thriving project is an incredible example of what community-first journalism should be: research-driven, inclusive and engaging of stakeholders throughout the reporting process. The series was thoughtfully adapted to reach community members through various formats—online, print, broadcast, podcast, and translations for immigrant readers when needed.”

Finalist: Montana Free Press

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.

Winner, Micro Revenue Tier: Red Bank Green

During a historic election, Red Bank Green hosted roundtable community forums with more than a dozen candidates. Their coverage provided essential information to the citizens of Red Bank, New Jersey.

From the judges: “Red Bank Green did not phone this in. The questions they asked of each of the dozen candidates were thoughtful, holistic, and gave each of them an opportunity to really paint a picture of what good governance and community engagement means to them. That they stepped up to the plate to host the roundtable shows that they went above and beyond merely reporting the facts but graduated to cultivating community and filling an immediate void therein. This is a great example of how traditional methods are still sound ways to engage with a community and provide a service!”

Finalists: Conecta Arizona and IMBY

Winner, Small Revenue Tier: 9 Millones

9 Millones designed and implemented a regenerative community outreach pilot that challenges the mainstream approach to storytelling. They partnered with local organizations to publish articles and multimedia, and created a model board game as a tool to disseminate information.

From the judges: “9 Millones employs a well-thought-out approach to community engagement, grounded in trust, hope, and health. They found a great way to develop closer relationships (leading to partnerships!) with those in Vieques and creatively used different tools, like developing a game. Terrific work on engagement early in the process — identifying the right area to focus, the right values in approach, etc.”

Finalists: CivicLex and Minnesota Women’s Press

Winner, Medium/Large Revenue Tier: El Tímpano 

For three consecutive Saturdays in October, El Tímpano installed a photo booth at the Oakland Coliseum Swap Meet; dozens of people took portraits, received an instant photo, and collaborated with the El Tímpano team in telling the story of this critical community space.

From the judges: “The immersive and engaging multimedia coverage is a standout feature, presenting compelling human interest stories. It’s refreshing to see innovation in coverage, with journalistic organizations borrowing from other fields to incorporate aesthetics and performative art into their work.”

Finalists: BridgeDetroit and Enlace Latino NC

Collaboration of the Year Award

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).

Winner, Micro/Small Revenue Tier: Altavoz Lab 

Altavoz Lab led a multi-newsroom collaborative to report on toxic air pollution in a Texas Latino community. The story was picked up nationally and co-published in English and Spanish by The Texas Tribune, Environmental Health News, palabra, Radio Bilingue, and La Esquina de Texas.

From the judges: “Through its collaboration with Environmental Health News, Altavoz Lab has created a model for operational partnership that goes beyond providing a fellowship. The organizations worked together to boost the impact of the fellows’ project by coordinating participating organizations that provided editorial, audience, and funding support.”

Finalists: Santa Cruz Local and Verified News Network (VNN)

Winner, Medium Revenue Tier: Canopy Atlanta

Canopy Atlanta partnered with Atlanta Civic Circle to produce the “Cost of Living” project, an innovative look at the price residents pay to live in metro Atlanta, centering on lived experience and connecting the dots between housing insecurity, wages, transportation, education, and healthcare.

From the judges: “Canopy Atlanta has built a powerful, locally rooted, content-rich, and operationally diversified news collaboration that appears to be only just beginning its journey of impact on Atlanta’s communities. Their dedicated website and its layers of transparency and interactivity to ensure and regenerate feedback and audience-driven coverage is commendable. The depth, breadth, and effectiveness of their partnerships across differences are evident in the range of reporters, community engagement and storytelling, language considerations, and how their collaboration ties it all back to the local streets and neighborhoods that are the lifeblood of their audiences.”

Finalist: BridgeDetroit

Winner, Large Revenue Tier: Spotlight PA

Spotlight PA partnered with the Centre Daily Times for a year-long investigation into Penn State University’s misconduct reporting systems. The investigation revealed flaws in the reforms implemented after the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case. As a result, Penn State redesigned its internal misconduct website and pledged greater transparency.

From the judges: “This collaboration really helped both organizations manage the depth and range of this investigation — many places to look and analyze, all of which would take enormous time commitments. This entry thoroughly explained the logistics of collaborations and the financial benefit of producing impactful local journalism. The articles also spurred significant changes from Penn State.”

Finalists: CalMatters, and PublicSource and NEXTpittsburgh

Product of the Year Award

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.”

Winner, Micro/Small Revenue Tier: Santa Cruz Local

After conducting 170 user research interviews, Santa Cruz Local launched Noticias Watsonville, a news product for Spanish-speaking audiences. Noticias Watsonville delivers free audio news in Spanish on WhatsApp. Since April 2023, Santa Cruz Local has raised about $100,000 in donations and grants to fund the product.

From the judges: “Santa Cruz Local demonstrates impressive work in the research phase of its product development, with a strong emphasis on continuous audience listening. The team’s holistic approach ensures that their content not only meets the needs of their community but is also effectively monetized, driving additional revenue. This comprehensive product strategy positions Santa Cruz Local for future iterations that will continue to serve their audience while ensuring sustainability.”

Finalists: Burlington Buzz and La Esquina TX

Winner, Medium/Large Revenue Tier: The Investigative Journalism Foundation

Launched in March 2024, The Investigative Journalism Foundation’s “Open by Default” database offers public access to over 20,000 internal government documents. This database provides Canadians with direct government visibility and is a product that helps IJF produce hard-hitting, data-driven journalism.

From the judges: “This product stands out for reasons of usability and obvious impact to journalists and community members. With examples of searches, labels of upload dates, and strong user-focused design patterns that often go overlooked, big congrats are to be had to everyone on the masthead. We’ll be looking forward to seeing this evolve and celebrating the good reporting that comes from such easy access to a trove of knowledge.”

Finalists: El Tímpano and Prison Journalism Project

Community Member of the Year Award

Recognizes an individual affiliated with a LION member organization who exemplifies LION’s core values. They routinely go above and beyond to help support, acknowledge, and celebrate their fellow news entrepreneurs. They are dedicated to building a sustainable news business and helping other LIONs do the same.

Winner: Camille Padilla Dalmau, founder and CEO of 9 Millones 

Camille Padilla Dalmau, the founder and CEO of 9 Millones, is a 2024 LION community ambassador and leads the peer group for those serving diaspora communities. She is a thoughtful, passionate leader and facilitator who models iteration and peer learning.

Transformational Impact Award

Recognizes a LION member that has achieved transformational impact for their organization through dedication to improving their operational resilience, financial health, and/or journalistic impact. This member organization is not only making an impact internally, but its growth has had a positive impact on the communities it serves and the independent news ecosystem.

Winner: Johnson County Post

Johnson County Post merged their two existing publications into one, expanded their coverage area, redesigned their website, and hired a full-time sales staff member — a move that has been extremely well received by both sponsors and subscribers. The result has been a surge in advertising revenue and subscriptions.