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News, information and much more for independent online news publishers. 
52 revenue ideas to support local journalism

Josh Stearns of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation compiles a list of 52 revenue ideas that can help support local journalism, complete with who is using them and lots of links. (And if you're not signed up for Josh's weekly newsletter, "The Local Fix," do so here.)


Editorial products that are needed but don't exist yet

Here's a fascinating look at editorial products that are needed but don't exist yet.

Four visions of what journalism might look like in 2025.

Newsrooms need to go beyond content myopia and embrace experiences.

Monday Note suggests journalists partner with experts to overcome the age of shallow media.

Jeff Jarvis argues that journalists must shift to a service role.

And Jan Schaffer says that if audience engagement is the goal, it's time to look back at the successes of civic journalism for answers.


LION member spotlight: Latina Lista

This week we talk with Marisa Treviño, publisher of Latina Lista, which grew out of a blog she launched in 2004. It started with topics of health, education and parenting, but quickly branched into politics, public policy and immigration.

"The one piece of advice I have is don’t think that if you build it people will automatically come. Your site must have the content people want to read and you must have the distribution plan in place to constantly grow your audience."

Read the full Q&A on LION's website.


Free member webinar tackles crowdfunding of local journalism

Crowdfunding local journalism projects will be the topic of a free webinar for LION members at 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 8.

Dylan Smith of the Tucson Sentinel and Brian Wheeler of Charlottesville Tomorrow will talk about recent successful crowdfunding campaigns and offer advice and tips for using Kickstarter and other platforms.


In N.J., marshaling community to advocate for local journalism

"In New Jersey, a new effort will leverage community organizing strategies on behalf of quality local journalism -- so communities can join forces with journalists to advocate for better local news, and better access to local information."

Amy Gahran has more on Free Press's 18-month "NJ News Voices" project at Knight Digital Media Center. It's funded by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Democracy Fund.


Making stories based on U.S. Census data easy to write

If you've ever struggled with finding U.S. Census data, or always planned to take advantage of it but were intimidated by the complexity of the data or where to begin, check out CensusReporter.org.

It's a site that was funded through the Knight Foundation News Challenge and is designed to make it easy for journalists to find, visualize and write stories about U.S. Census information.

The user experience is incredibly simple, and results easy to digest.


Engagement strategies for the tiny news desk

Our friends at Chalkbeat offer some great advice about online community engagement when you are working with a very small staff. 


The community impact of a local newspaper's demise

When the local paper closes, where does the community turn? (Ahem - how about local independent online news sites?)

And are communities dying as newspapers wither on the vine?

The Washington Post's decision to close suburban newspapers is prompting some of these questions.


New indie news site picks up where Homicide Watch left off

A new independent online news site is launching in Washington, D.C., and taking up a similar mission to the much celebrated-but-now defunct Homicide Watch. Capitol Justice will be edited by former Connecticut Digital First Media reporter Jennifer Swift and published with the help of Amos Gelb's students at Washington Media Institute.


RiverheadLOCAL wins Best Website honors on Long Island

RiverheadLOCAL and SoutholdLOCAL, led by LION member Denise Civiletti, recently won third place for "Best Website" in the Long Island Press Club's annual awards program. 

Meanwhile, another LION member's site, The Lens in New Orleans, has won an Edward R. Murrow Award for best website audio content.


Google steps up focus on journalism with tools, partnerships

A flurry of recent announcements shows that Google is serious about matching the commitment that other major platforms seem to have to a role in media and journalism.

They include:

Formation of a News Lab that provides journalism tools.

Updating Google Trends with real time search data.

Partnering with Storyful on a YouTube video verification project and other projects related to crowdsourced journalism.

And acquisition of a company that helps consumers bypass the need to download mobile apps.

Related: Could a small Google tech change mean tens of millions of dollars to news publishers?


Tools and Tips: Advertising and Revenue

BUSINESS PLAN: The metrics every entrepreneur should know by heart.

MEMBERSHIPS: MinnPost has introduced members' only content. And Pando is pivoting to rely more on reader revenue than advertising.

NATIVE ADVERTISING: Reuters is taking a distributed approach to native advertising.

MICROPAYMENTS: Blendle, a radical experiment with micropayments, is one year old.

YELLOW PAGES: YP is spinning off its print yellow pages business to focus on digital. 

RESTAURANTS: Consumers expect more technology now from all restaurants. Can local news sites provide it?

ANALYTICS AND APPS: How analytics should inform your company's smartphone app creation. Only about five apps see heavy use, according to study of consumer behavior.

SERVICE AND SALE: The client as publisher and the account executive as service provider.

MOBILE ADS: Here's what Facebook wants mobile ads to look like. The state of mobile ad spending in five charts. The Guardian's executive editor says mobile has "snuck up on us." And marketplace quality for programmatic advertising has become a bigger issue for desktop ads than mobile.

MOBILE VIDEO: Facebook is nipping at YouTube's heels in the race for video viewers and advertisers.


Tools and Tips: Journalism and Technology

WORDPRESS: Some advice on choosing the right WordPress theme.

DATA: Very cool: These tools allow you to scrape data from websites without knowing how to code. Exploring the seven different types of data stories. Data journalism has gone from a specialism to the new normal, and from a technical skill to a cultural one. And some general advice: Think journalism first, technology second.

ACTIVISM: When should journalists take on the role of activists?

PHOTOGRAPHY: Have we come too far with digital photography?

FREELANCE: The Washington Post has built a social network to better match freelancers' skills to story assignments.  A study shows freelancers see career improvement despite added stress.

CHARTS: Quartz maps a future for its interactive charts with "Atlas."

CURATION: Tips and tools for creative curation and social newsgathering. Also, curation and algorithms, plus four tools from Reported.ly for newsgathering on social media. And lessons they've learned about social storytelling.

VIRTUAL REALITY: Immersive journalism: The future of reporting or an ethical minefield? (Both?)

SNAPCHAT: Don't think Snapchat can be a serious news outlet? Look at snaps from Charleston.

INSTAGRAM: Instagram has overhauled its search functions to surface more trending news. Also, why the Virginia Quarterly Review is funding "Instagram journalism."

STORY COMMENTS: Rational and civil debate is possible in online story comment sections. 

FACEBOOK VIDEO: How Eater approaches video for Facebook.


Industry News

NEWSPAPER LAYOFFS: It's been another week of cuts at legacy newspapers. The Wisconsin State Journal laid off veteran journalists. Cuts at the Wall Street Journal could threaten consumer reporting. The Denver Post is cutting newsroom staff again. And there was late word Wednesday of layoffs at the San Francisco Chronicle.

WOMEN'S SPORTS: Women's sports are more popular than ever, but get less media coverage than a generation ago.

STUDENT MEDIA: Student newspapers are approaching a tipping point on print.

TWITTER: As it looks for a new CEO, Twitter is preparing to make a major shift in strategy. Like Apple and Snapchat, it is looking to hire journalists, and there are new attempts to organize itself around news events. From the New York Times, "for Twitter, the future means here and now."

AOL DEAL: Verizon has completed its purchase of AOL.

FACEBOOK: Expect to see a flood of "instant articles" in your Facebook feed soon as the company ramps up its plan to publish news directly.  Also, Facebook's facial recognition software can identify people even if their face isn't completely visible.

RIP CIRCA: Start-up Circa has shut down, but leaves behind some important innovation on mobile news presentation.

SAN FRANCISCO: After being shut down by Gannett, San Francisco's local online news experiment, "The Bold Italic," is returning under new ownership.


Is Your LION Publishers Membership Up for Renewal?
 
For many of our LION Publishers members, it's time to renew! Your membership includes participation in the LION Publishers Den on Facebook, networking and support from fellow LION publishers, our new newsletter, discounted rates on media liability and directors and officers insurance and more. 

Plus, being a member gives you access to a members-only rate to the LION Summit – a savings of up to $175 compared to the non-member rate. If your membership is due for renewal, please go to www.lionpublishers.com/members/dues to submit your payment. Those who opt for multi-year membership save, and easy, secure payment options are available via credit card or through Paypal. (Not sure when your membership expires? You can look it up easily on LIONPublishers.com.)

Thanks to our current members who have already renewed!
 
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