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News, information and much more for independent online news publishers. 
Can a strict paywall work for a local indie online news site?

Nieman Lab checks in with the Worcester Sun, led by LION member Mark Henderson, which launched two years ago with a strict paywall and plans to eventually launch a Sunday print edition.

Now the site is at a crossroads, considering whether print is viable, whether a nonprofit model would make sense, or a switch to a free, ad-supported site.

"It’s good to have choices, Henderson said. ... There were just a lot of people who said, ‘Whoa, whoa, it’s not going to work.’ We’ve been around long enough, and the market has changed, so that’s not something we hear a whole lot anymore.”


Local journalism cuts follow 'megaclustering' at newspapers

Gannett, Gatehouse and Digital First Media now control a quarter of the country's 1,350 daily newspapers, and are relentlessly pursuing a strategy of cutting local newsrooms to maintain profits as print revenue continues to decline.

"... chains long ago surpassed families as owners, and now control nine out of 10 dailies."

Related: Death by 1,000 paper cuts: Gannett's year-round layoffs hit small-town journalism hardest. And ... In many communities, best local journalism is not coming from print.


Wyofile has been diving deep into local news for 10 years

Wyofile is celebrating more than a decade of independent news coverage in Wyoming.

"The state’s small-town nature contributes to the success of a news organization like WyoFile, a statewide local news nonprofit that dives into stories like infant mortality on the Native American reservations in Wyoming, the impact of immigrants on the state’s economy, and investigations into the developers of a $10 million Department of Energy federal stimulus project, who were later hit with criminal charges by the U.S. Department of Justice."

“Our aim is to create a more informed and engaged public that is passionate about the people, places, and public of Wyoming."


Facebook will let publishers keep 100% of subscription revenue

Facebook wants to help news publishers sell subscriptions, and says it will give publishers 100% of revenue from a new subscription feature.

Related: Millennials will pay for news if you give them engaging journalism to support. Seven ways to encourage your audience to pay. Who trusts — and pays for — the news? Here’s what 8,728 people told us. New York Times aims to satisfy a new kind of digital subscriber. Slate uses podcasts to drive paid memberships.


Tools and Tips: Advertising and Revenue

AD MEASUREMENT: But did it work? Ad measurement companies are thriving.

CROWDFUNDING: Tronc's San Diego Union-Tribune is partnering with GoFundMe to launch campaigns based on its own articles.

LOCATION: How Local News Publishers Can Score With Proximity Marketing.

METRICS: Sell Ads On Engaged Time Metrics? Publishers Still Weighing Promise And Risk.

MOBILE: Christopher Guess expands work on mobile news app for smaller news orgs. Guess will be speaking at LION's annual conference in Chicago this fall.

NATIVE ADVERTISING: The reverse Vice: Why agencies are becoming media companies.

NEWSLETTERS: This veteran Chicago journalist is using an email ‘newscast’ to keep people informed.

PODCASTING: A new newsletter helps listeners discover podcasts produced in flyover country. What’s coming next in podcast adaptations: Adaptations of other forms of media to podcasts.

PROGRAMMATIC: Google's been running a secret test to detect bogus ads — and its findings should make the industry nervous.


Tools and Tips: Journalism and Technology

BUSINESS NEWS: How reporters can conduct better business interviews.

CODING: 'It’s about teamwork': The diary of a journalist surrounded by coders.

COLLABORATION: This tool is helping newsrooms collaborate on fact checking and verification projects.

DATA: A new program wants to help more people in news orgs — beyond journalists — get literate with data.

DOCUMENT CLOUD: DocumentCloud will start asking some users to chip in as it leaves IRE for its own nonprofit.

ENGAGEMENT: ‘Newsrooms cannot do this alone.’ Start meetings with a folk song — and other ideas from the community-driven, crowdfunded Danish news site Zetland.

FOIA: The War on the Freedom of Information Act: A conservative group is resisting congressional efforts to kneecap FOIA.

Freedom Of Information Lawsuit Results In NYPD Agreeing To Follow FOI Law.

INSTAGRAM: How to crack Snapchat and Instagram through ‘Stories.’

LEADERSHIP: If you want your newsroom to evolve, you must, too. ‘A great leader never rusts.’ Don’t be the co-worker that sends late-night emails. Use this free tool.

MOMS: Newsrooms must better meet the needs of mothers with young kids — and create better work-life balance for everyone.

METRICS: How the Guardian is using article surveys to inform editorial decisions. The problem with short-sighted metrics. Broadcasters need to get out of the impressions business and back into the attention business. Bringing measurement to podcasts.

MOBILE: Why assumed knowledge is the 'enemy of the push alert.'

OPIOIDS: Photos reveal media’s softer tone on opioid crisis.

RELATED CONTENT: How Bibblio Wants to Drain the Swamp of ‘Related Article’ Recommendations.

SPORTS: The New Sports Journalism Playbook: Premium Local Coverage for a Low Cost. The Athletic, that local sports startup with no advertising, raises $5.4 million.

STORY COMMENTS: News Values, Cognitive Biases, and Partisan Incivility in Comment Sections. The Times of London finds commenters are most valuable visitors.

STORYTELLING: 2017 is the year of “Stories” to boost revenue, readership.

TRANSCRIPTION: Tool for journalists: Mercury, for audio transcription and translation.

VIDEO: Data from analyzing 5,000 social videos suggests that only 1 percent will go viral. Facebook announces improvements to its Live 360 feature. Facebook has acquired a content rights startup called Source3 to help fight video pirates. Twitter plans to shut down SnappyTV in favor of new TV-clipping tool. ‘There’s a lot more crap than there is premium’: Buyers cast doubts on publishers’ pivot to video.


Industry News

ALT WEEKLIES: As Baltimore City Paper faces the reaper, stakes mount for alt-weeklies.

AMAZON: Amazon Lures Publishers to New Social Network by Paying Them to Post.

ATLANTIC: The Atlantic has built a business in which print provides only a fraction of its revenue now. Steve Jobs' widow is buying a majority stake in the business.

CHATBOTS: RJI Fellow receives investment from Missouri accelerator fund for chatbot tool.

CHICAGO: At Chicago Sun-Times, new owners vow to return to tabloid's working class roots.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA: Orange County Register Parent Company to Offer Buyouts So That Layoffs (Hopefully) Don't Come.

FACEBOOK: Is Facebook’s revenue growth finally slowing down? Facebook totally dominates the list of most popular social media apps. Why publishers are testing an old Facebook tool originally designed for brands. For Publishers, Why This Week Might be The Best Time to Promote Your Content on Facebook.

FAKE NEWS: What will misinformation look like in 2030 (and will we be better at spotting it by then)? Want to Stop Fake News? Check Your Own Assumptions First. Dear Internet, can we talk? We have an information pollution problem of epic proportions. Journalism versus lies and fake news: Time for a rethink. How will Facebook evaluate its measures to tackle fake news? InVID Wants to Help Journalists Debunk Fake Videos.

FLIPBOARD: Publishers are finding Flipboard drives nice traffic.

GOOGLE: Google’s New News Feed Is Scary-Good at Personalization (But Feels Impersonal). Google is having trouble pushing its Facebook-like newsfeed to Android devices. Alphabet adds to cash pile despite higher costs, antitrust fine. Google is testing autoplay videos directly in search results.
GOTHAMIST: "Hypocrisy, Greed, And the DNAinfo-Gothamist Union."

GUARDIAN: Guardian Media Group cuts losses by more than a third.

LATIN AMERICA: Entrepreneurial Journalism Is Growing in Latin America, But Faces Threats.

McCLATCHY: McClatchy quarterly results and forecast show more stormy weather ahead for newspapers.

NEXTDOOR: News organizations are using Nextdoor to connect with readers block-by-block. The Washington Post Finds a New Place for Local News Coverage in a Partnership With Nextdoor.

NEW YORK TIMES: Buoyed by digital subscription growth, The New York Times had one of its strongest quarters in recent years. Pulitzer Prize-Winner James Risen Leaving The New York TImes.  By dismantling its copy desk, The New York Times is making a mistake that’s been made before.

NIELSEN: Nielsen Adds YouTube and Hulu Skinny Bundles to Traditional TV Rating.

PRESS FREEDOM: Press freedom groups to Capitol Hill cops: Stop interfering with photojournalists.

Bannon pushing for tougher regulations on Facebook, Google.

PRINT: Digital may be the future, but print still looms large in the present fortunes of newspapers. What's Really Behind the Newspaper Industry's Quixotic Fight With Google and Facebook. Stop whining about Facebook and Google and learn from them, media companies told.

PUBLIC EDITORS: Public editors disappear as media distrust grows.

SINCLAIR: Small-time management is getting in the way of big ideas at conservative broadcaster Sinclair. O’Reilly Wants Hannity to Join Forces at Sinclair - Conservative Broadcaster That's Snatching Up Local TV Stations.

SOCIAL MEDIA: How to Choose a Social Media Management Tool.

SNOPES: Snopes turns to readers to avoid shutting down: ‘we need your help.’ Snopes met its $500K fundraising goal. Now what? Why Snopes matters.

SPANISH-LANGUAGE PUBS: Immigration is vital content’ for local Spanish-language papers.

TRUMP: White House correspondents group decides to exclude some outlets, both left and right. President Trump lied about The New York Times (again). Will it make any difference? On Trump, transparency and democracy. The biggest threat to journalism isn't Donald Trump. It's declining revenues.

TWITTER: Twitter says its anti-abuse efforts are working, citing internal data. Fixing Twitter’s Louise Mensch problem. Twitter shares drop 9 percent as it fails to deliver user growth.

WIKITRIBUNE: Jimmy Wales on Wikitribune and his interest in partnering with small-town papers for local news content.


UPCOMING EVENTS

LION SUMMIT - CHICAGO: Save the dates! LION Publishers' annual conference will be held Oct. 26-28 in Chicago.

LION WEBINARS: LION Publishers hosts a monthly webinar series. Upcoming webinars:
* Aug. 17: Free content for local publishers from national partners, with Tucson Sentinel Publisher Dylan Smith.
* Sept. 14: Hiring, paying and managing sales reps at local independent online news sites, with ARLNow.com Publisher Scott Brodbeck, Home Page Media Publisher Kelly Gilfillan and Richland Source Publisher Jay Allred.


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 http://www.lionpublishers.com/members/dues/renew 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.)
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