Announcing the full schedule for the Independent News Sustainability Summit

The leaders of independent local news, back together in one place. 

Brought to you by LION Publishers, News Revenue Hub and RevLab at The Texas Tribune, here’s our full schedule for the Independent News Sustainability Summit in Austin this October 27-29. 

Kicking us off on Thursday will be our opening keynote speaker Dean Baquet, former executive editor of The New York Times, in conversation with Evan Smith, CEO of The Texas Tribune. The conversation will focus on how independent news organizations can partner with national organizations like The New York Times to increase watchdog journalism. 

Our second keynote on Friday will focus on how we can reimagine our newsrooms through sustainable newsroom culture, featuring keynote speaker Sisi Wei, editor-in-chief of The Markup, in conversation with Angilee Shah, editor-in-chief of Charlottesville Tomorrow. 

Across all three days, we’re hosting 38 other sessions – 13 panels, 5 fireside chats, 14 workshops, 4 lightning talks and a closing session– that focus on LION Publishers’ three pillars of sustainability: operational resilience, financial health and journalistic impact. By balancing our sessions across these foundational focus areas, we hope to inspire a more productive and holistic conversation about what it looks like for independent news organizations to achieve sustainability.

Our 100+ speakers represent diverse experiences and perspectives, with the vast majority working at U.S. and Canadian-based independent news organizations large and small, newly launched and well established. All have one thing in common: an eagerness and generosity to share what they’ve learned with other founders and leaders who are trying to build sustainable news organizations. 

Making this conference affordable for independent news publishers has been a key priority. Thanks to the Knight Foundation for underwriting the summit, enabling our ticket prices to be very affordable. We were also able to award travel scholarships to more than 100 attendees and add valuable programming thanks to support from the Lenfest Institute and the Google News Initiative.

The Summit will also feature two special festivities: an opening reception and the LION Local Journalism Awards Ceremony and Dinner. 

• The opening reception from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday will include drinks and appetizers on the plaza at Fareground Austin, walkable from the conference hotel. 

• On Friday evening, LION Publishers will host the Local Journalism Awards Ceremony and Dinner, featuring a keynote by Amanda Zamora and Emily Ramshaw, co-founders of The 19th*. The Ceremony will be hosted by Outlier Media’s Candice Fortman and LION’s Lisa Heyamoto. We’ll announce winners of the LION Awards at the Ceremony and Dinner, which all Summit attendees are invited to attend (an additional ticket is required). 

Register ASAP to join independent news industry leaders in Austin. We’ve sold more than 60 percent of available registration, and the remaining tickets are going fast. 

Learn more about our conference venue and lodging; our COVID-19 policy; and other FAQs. Got more questions? Email us at [email protected] 

The Independent News Sustainability Summit is hosted by LION Publishers, News Revenue Hub and RevLab at The Texas Tribune. Thank you to Knight Foundation for being our presenting sponsor, and to The Lenfest Institute and Google News Initiative for supporting this event.