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News, information and much more for independent online news publishers. 
One-on-one business coaching offered at annual LION Summit

Attendees of the 2017 LION Summit in Chicago this year can sign up for a 20- to 30-minute appointment with a veteran local independent online news publisher or consultant for one-on-one coaching on a market- or organization-specific problem or challenge you are facing with your local news site or your plans for launching one. Coaches will include longtime publishers with experience in both for-profit and nonprofit news organizations, and conference speakers and consultants including advertising sales expert Eleanor Cippel.

Register today for this year's conference to avoid paying higher, last-minute rates!

The schedule for the 2017 LION Summit is set, and includes a boot camp for new publishers and idea-stage local news entrepreneurs, and two and a half days packed with speakers, panels and breakout sessions on building revenue streams to support local journalism, how to improve that journalism, the technology that supports that journalism, audience development, community engagement and more.

Related: .Poynter's The Cohort has a Q&A with P. Kim Bui, who's among the speakers at LION 2017. On the LION site, there's a preview of Gavin Bechtold's talk on how user experience impacts ad revenue, on Steven Ludwig's talk about monetizing sports coverage, on Ted Williams' talk on how Charlotte Agenda got to $1 million in revenue in two years, on Christopher Guess's talk about the Push mobile app for small news organizations, and lots more.


Supporting more people of color as local news entrepreneurs

The Online News Association's annual conference last weekend featured a discussion led by LION board member Tracie Powell of why there aren't more people of color launching and leading local online news organizations, and what funders can do about it.

Glenn Burkins, another LION board member, talked about the obstacles he has faced in growing his site, Q City Metro in Charlotte. Earlier this year, Burkins wrote a piece for Columbia Journalism Review on why we don't see more black local online news publishers.

Other panelists included Karen Rundlet of the Knight Foundation, who said that the country has an "information inequality" problem that could be addressed by supporting more local news entrepreneurs of color, Molly de Aguair of the News Integrity Initiative, and Led Black, publisher of Uptown Collective in New York.

(By the way, all five will be speaking at LION's annual conference in Chicago Oct. 26-28!)

A few days later, we saw one of many reasons this is so important when the American Society of News Editors came out with its annual survey on newsroom diversity. It showed that little progress has been made. Legacy media newsrooms, particularly in leadership, are still mostly white and male. The share of women in newsrooms has increased barely 1 percent since 2001.

"Every year, I see the inevitable quotes from top editors — about how we’re moving the needle (okay, yeah, slowly, a bit, here and there) and how committed they are to making progress (really?) and how important it is that we reflect our communities (without a doubt)," Maria Carillo of the Tampa Bay Times wrote for Poynter. "Yet there is no great sense of urgency and little accountability, as far as I can tell. And that’s more discouraging than the numbers themselves."

Related: ASNE to overhaul annual diversity survey with $300,000 Democracy Fund grant. How can collaborations between ethnic and mainstream outlets serve communities in the digital age?


Sponsored content is funding local business journalism in S.D.

A local independent online news startup in South Dakota is finding success with sponsored content as its main revenue stream.

SiouxFalls.Business was launched earlier this year by LION member Jodi Schwan, a former broadcast journalist and legacy media business magazine editor.

"I’m really proud that we’ve been able to demonstrate how effective quality branded content can be for advertisers," Schwan said in a Q&A on the LION site. "We’ve had many sponsored pieces perform just as well as news pieces, and our clients and sponsors are starting to see tangible results within their businesses because of their partnership with us. I’m also proud to have been able to add a full-time employee after two months in business."


News About Local Independent Online News Sites

ANALYTICS: WhereBy.Us is building open-source analytics for smaller publishers.

NEWARK: Poynter has a Q&A with LION member Andaiye Taylor, publisher of Brick City Live in Newark, New Jersey, on how she's making money with a loyalty program and live ticketing platform.

NORTH CAROLINA: News voices to work on trust, misinformation at local level.

PRO PUBLICA: With its new reporting network, ProPublica wants to fund investigative reporters around the U.S.

SMALL NEWSROOMS: Small newsroom? Few resources? Here are 5 tips for scaling big projects down.


Tools and Tips: Advertising and Revenue

AD DESIGN: Fusion Media: If You Make a Good Ad, We’ll Give You Bonus Ad Space.

AD SALES: Newspapers Hunt for Local Ad Dollars as Main Street Evolves.

AD TECH: Advance newspapers stick with open programmatic advertising marketplace amid concerns about viewability, fraud.

AMP: Publishers find Google AMP loads too fast for ad views.

BANNER ADS: BuzzFeed thinks it has figured out a way to make web ads people might actually like.

MEMBERSHIP: How a CPB Digital Program Boosted a Public Media Station’s Pledge Drive by 25%.

MOBILE: Flipboard Just Introduced A Seal Of Approval For Mobile-Friendly Sites. Everyone loves push alerts, but there are problems. Like: What if readers don’t actually open them?

SOCIAL MEDIA: The Destructive Switch from Search to Social. 'Understand the platforms through trial and error': Advice for media brands on social.

SPONSORED CONTENT: Hallpressen increases paid content with personalized local news stream.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Driving Digital Subscriptions: Sustaining the ‘Trump Bump.’ Now anyone who publishes something on Medium can paywall it.

VIDEO: LinkedIn video: How is it different, and what can you use it for? Could Amazon win a major chunk of the video ad market? As Facebook Live video dreams fade, publishers look again to Twitter. Even though one size does not fit all for video, yet the industry does the same thing over and over. Eighty percent of publishers will spend more on video. If you're pivoting to video, do it right. Seven myths about 360-degree video.


Tools and Tips: Journalism and Technology

CLIMATE CHANGE: How to localize climate change through agriculture.

ENGAGEMENT: New platform Gather aims to connect and support journalists working in community engagement.

FOIA: With $440,000 in funding, MuckRock is expanding its mission to improve access to public records.

INSTAGRAM: Inside the Financial Times’ Instagram strategy.

METRICS: How metrics became an essential part of ONA17. Publishers, you need 'what should happen next?' analytics.

PODCASTING: Podcasting made audio great again. It could be even better. Two tools to help. Google buys short-form audio startup to bolster its podcast efforts.

STORY COMMENTS:  Actually, do read the comments — they can be the best part.

STRESS: How journalists and publishers can tackle dangerous stress levels in newsrooms.

TOOLS: Five tech tools to turbocharge your reporting. Many newsrooms around the world are lagging when it comes to new tech and a digital-first mindset.

UNDER-SERVED: Storytelling tools to reach low-literate readers. How an SMS tool is bringing rape survivors into the media sphere.


Industry News

AMAZON: How Amazon is readying its blitz on the ad industry.

CHATBOTS: Will chatbots become part of the consumer search experience?

DETROIT: Detroit’s first ‘chief storyteller’ on why his city needs an in-house journalist.

FACEBOOK: How Facebook ads helped elect Trump. When Facebook and Google are ‘weaponized,’ the victim is reality. Facebook tells advertisers more scrutiny is coming. Facebook’s latest solution to its fake news problem — sign on a right-wing fact-checker. Here's how easy it is for anyone — including Russian operatives — to target you with ads on Facebook. Publishers shift focus from Facebook? Not so fast. Franklin Foer wants journalism to liberate itself from Facebook.

FAKE NEWS: Deception on the internet is nothing new, but you're right, it is getting worse. Tim O’Reilly on ways to put the brakes on “fake news” and rebuild trust on the internet. Pierre Omidyar on 6 ways social media has become a direct threat to democracy. Real-life victims of fake news. These two studies found that correcting misperceptions works. But it’s not magic. Facebook says its fake news label helps reduce the spread of a fake story by 80%. Facebook will help investigators release Russia ads. Facebook takes down data and thousands of posts, obscuring reach of Russian disinformation.

GOOGLE: Google is paying publishers working on 'Stamp,' its version of Snapchat's Discover and Instagram’s Stories. Google has found Russian ads related to 2016 election. Advertisers getting nervous about their marriage to Google, Facebook.

MEDIA CONSUMPTION: Adults spend nearly half of their media day consuming digital content.

MEDIUM: Ev Williams wants to save media — again. But some writers and publishers are skeptical.

NPR: NPR is beating commercial news/talk in top markets. NPR is considering three regions for piloting journalism hubs.

ONA: Couldn’t make it to ONA this year in D.C.? Here’s a meta-roundup of roundups and resources for you.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST: How local journalists in the Pacific Northwest are adopting solutions journalism and rethinking objectivity.

PHILADELPHIA: Inquirer, Daily News staffers offered buyouts while newsroom plans to hire others.

PRESS FREEDOM: It took a long time for the press to gain freedom and respect in America. Now both are in peril. Our Gutenberg moment: It’s time to grapple with the internet’s effect on democracy. Even If Trump’s threat against NBC isn’t serious, it’s still destructive. How new technology like AI, drones and big data can limit the First Amendment. What if the right-wing media wins? As Trump slams media, an Indiana lawmaker has drafted a bill to license journalists.

PRINT: Pioneer News Group selling seven daily and 15 weekly newspapers to Adams Publishing Group. New e-book: Survive and thrive in a shrinking newsroom. UK's Oldham Chronicle to 'restart production' after newspaper saved by local radio station.

SNAPCHAT: Snapchat makes another move toward becoming one app to rule your life. Snapchat’s new context cards let you read reviews, book reservations, and more.

TRONC: Some worry new LA Times editor will focus more on clicks and advertising than pursuing ambitious journalism. Out-of-box hires reset Tronc -- and LA Times' -- strategy once again. Layoffs hit Chicago Tribune newsroom.

TRUMP: Reporters struggled with the most unconventional presidential campaigns in US history. A new analysis shows why.

TWITTER: Twitter will soon let you bookmark tweets with a ‘save for later’ option. Twitter changed its mind and will let Marsha Blackburn promote her ‘inflammatory’ campaign ad after all. What’s Happening Now? Twitter Will Let Its iOS and Android Users Know. Twitter Would Like You To Know It Is Committed To Being More Transparent.

WEINSTEIN: How top NBC executives quashed the bombshell Harvey Weinstein story. Did the media help Harvey Weinstein lure his prey and smear his accusers?


UPCOMING EVENTS

LION SUMMIT - CHICAGO: Register now! LION Publishers' annual conference will be held Oct. 26-28 in Chicago.

LION WEBINARS: Upcoming LION webinars are free for members and just $15 for non-members.
* A PAYWALL MODEL FOR LOCAL ONLINE NEWS: Jay Senter, publisher of the Shawnee Mission Post in Kansas, and Mark Henderson, publisher of the Worcester Sun in Massachusetts, will discuss their experiences with and best practices for paid subscription/paywall business models from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14.
* FACEBOOK LIVE IN LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE: Charlotte-Anne Lucas of NOWCastSA will offer advice and discuss best practices on the technical requirements of livestreaming video on Facebook, building an audience for livestreams, and choosing the right topics and events to cover with live video from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12.


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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