📣 Lead a Table Talk at the 2024 Summit
We know that having the chance to chat with other news entrepreneurs is as valuable as attending educational sessions at the 2024 Independent News Sustainability Summit.
That’s why we’ve dedicated a portion of our program to your ideas through Table Talks, small-group discussions that provide a specific space to share ideas and build connections around mutual topics of interest.
And now we’re seeking volunteers to propose topics and lead these discussions, which will take place during the conference on Saturday, September 7, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. CT. If you’re passionate about a topic and willing to facilitate that conversation, submit this application form by August 15 at 11 p.m. PT. We’ll select and notify Table Talk facilitators by August 21.
– Samantha Matsumoto, LION’s community engagement manager
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2024 Summit and LION Awards
We are so excited to get the leaders of independent local news back together in person for the 2024 Summit and the sixth annual LION Awards.
If you plan to join us in Chicago, be sure to book your hotel reservation at the Westin Chicago River North by August 16. Our discounted room block will close after that deadline.
Still on the fence about signing up? We’ll publish our complete schedule next week, but in the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at our latest three sessions:
1. “Movement building: How local leaders can build the case that local nonprofit news must be a public good” with Mukhtar M. Ibrahim, CEO of Sahan Journal, Christopher Baxter, CEO, president, and founding editor of Spotlight PA, and Lisa Heyamoto, vice president of portfolio learning at the American Journalism Project
2. “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated: Advertising and sponsorship can still work!” with Colleen Leary, VP of partnerships at Cityside (publisher of Berkeleyside, Oaklandside, and Richmondside) and Lance Knobel, co-founder and CEO of Cityside
3. “Would that really work?: Innovative revenue streams that might be right for your organization” with Luanne Rife, executive director of Cardinal News, Laprisha Berry Daniels, executive director of Planet Detroit, Kenny Katzgrau, publisher of Red Bank Green, and Cara Kuhlman, founder and editor of Future Tides
We’ve sold nearly 80% of tickets — secure yours today!
Get your AI questions answered
LION will be hosting an “Ask Me Anything” in our News Entrepreneur Slack Channel on Thursday, August 8, from 3 to 4 p.m. ET. Nikita Roy, founder and host of the Newsroom Robots Podcast and Harvard-recognized AI futurist, will answer attendees’ questions about AI and journalism.
Here’s how you can participate:
🔹 Submit your questions by Wednesday, August 7
🔹 If you’re not a member of the NEC Slack, request an invite
🔹 Log in to the NEC Slack on August 8 and join the AI channel between 3 to 4 p.m. ET
🔹 Nikita will answer questions live, and you can join in on the conversation by adding more questions or comments
Please note: All questions and discussions in the NEC Slack must follow LION’s Code of Conduct.
8 resources for independent publishers
1. Get support for your higher-ed ideas. Open Campus is accepting pitches for one-time, ambitious higher education stories that center local communities. Selected newsrooms will receive $10,000, plus coaching and editing from the Open Campus team. (Deadline: TODAY)
2. Pursue an investigative interest. The New York Times is accepting applications for its Local Investigations Fellowship, a one-year paid program for local beat reporters and freelancers to produce signature investigative work focused on their state or region that will be published by The Times. (Q&A webinar on Aug. 15)
3. Boost your capacity. Report for America, which places early-career journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities, has opened applications for host newsrooms. (Apply by Sept. 13)
4. Showcase your work. Apply for Editor & Publisher’s 2024 EPPY Awards, which honor the best in digital news publishing across more than 45 diverse categories. (Apply by Sept. 13)
5. Excel at live events. Live journalism events are gaining traction; here’s a workbook from the American Press Institute to help you start planning your own.
6. Spot fakes with ease. Northwestern has launched a free, easy-to-use platform for detecting deepfakes.
7. Right-size ambitions with reality. LION members: This NEA course covers how to measure organizational capacity so you can confidently pursue (or pause) projects.
8. Strengthen your criminal justice journalism. The Marshall Project’s Investigate This! initiative offers story toolkits, which include data downloads, story ideas, multimedia assets, FOIA guidance, expert sources, style guidance, and more.
What we’re reading
“Cogeneration.” Here are eight straightforward practices that can help you bring cross-generational collaboration to your newsroom. (Better News)
Global media map. Project Oasis has published highlights from analyzing its new digital media directory, which contains over 3,000 profiles of digital media outlets worldwide. Full disclosure: LION is a project partner. (Project Oasis) Nieman Lab also breaks down key data points.
Interest versus ease. New research reveals that most Americans are interested in getting local political news, but only 25 percent are highly satisfied with the quality of coverage, and less than half indicate that civic engagement information is easy to find. (Pew Research Center)
Students and free speech. Knight Foundation has published its latest findings on how students view the right to free speech. One takeaway: “Students are increasingly skeptical of social media’s role in productive conversations.” (Knight Foundation)
LIONs in the news
Here at LION, our organization is guided by a set of seven values, one of which is transparency. When we publish program results, we know it’s imperative to share not only what worked but also what didn’t work to truly make progress and help others do the same. (Here’s one example.)
This article featuring Borderless highlights how the organization successfully mobilized field canvassers to reach Spanish-speaking audiences in Chicago. It breaks down every project component, including three things they’d do differently next time, and links to the handbook they created for other organizations interested in canvasing.
Check out their findings, and kudos to the team for continuing to iterate on this important initiative.
In other LION member news:
⭐ VTDigger is hiring a Southern Vermont reporter. The team has also welcomed Neal Goswami as managing editor.
⭐ Mississippi Free Press is pleased to share that the Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists named eight of its journalists winners or finalists in its 2024 awards.
⭐ The Buckeye Flame’s H.L. Comeriato has been named national ‘LGBTQ+ Journalist of the Year’ by the National Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists.
⭐ Arizona Luminaria and New York Amsterdam News have been selected to collaborate with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network. For three years, these newsrooms will dedicate one reporter to investigative reporting.
⭐ Mat-Su Sentinel’s founder, Amy Bushatz, has been accepted into the Google News Initiative pre-launch lab.
⭐ NowKalamazoo, Mat-Su Sentinel, PublicSource, The Haitian Times, Prison Journalism Project, Verified News Network, and Mississippi Free Press have been awarded $2,000 Democracy Day grants for election coverage.
⭐ Mission Local used recent award wins to encourage donations from readers.
⭐ Marisa Kwiatkowski has been named director of journalism at Knight Foundation.
⭐ The Texas Tribune will participate in Perplexity’s Publisher Program.
How to reach us
When you reply to this email, we all receive it, and you’ll hear back from one of us. You can also email us directly at [email protected].