Assembling an awards submission lets you practice articulating how your organization’s work leads to mission-driven impact and strategic growth. And the benefits of this exercise can extend well beyond one awards application — you can repurpose this content for other types of opportunities, including applying for grants, soliciting reader support, and revamping your marketing materials.

We know it can be challenging to figure out how to promote your own work. So we’ve compiled a list of tips and resources from past LION Award winners, independent news leaders, industry experts, and fellow journalism-support organizations.

Here’s some advice from 2023 LION Award winners:

• Emphasize the significance of your organization’s work in the community. Ask yourself: Why does this work matter? Who does it impact?
  • “You can use that [LION Awards] application form to really help explain and illustrate to the judges why something like this matters in your community. The judges…are coming from the news industry and have an understanding of how news is produced and all the things that go into running a news organization, but what they are not familiar with is your community and how and why you’re creating something — that’s important to them.” – Madison Karas, 2PuntosPlatform
• Don’t underestimate the value of your achievements, even if they seem small or mundane. Ask yourself: How did this impact my journey to sustainability? What are the measurable results, impacts, and lessons?
  • “There really is a place [at the LION Awards] for all-sized outlets, and there are opportunities for huge journalistic impact, as well as community engagement. I would encourage you to apply because inevitably, at these awards, someone is stunned they won!” – Kimberly Griffin, Mississippi Free Press
• Build on your celebratory narrative. Take this opportunity to dive deep into your accomplishments and learn more about the unexpected or unheralded victories that deserve recognition. Ask yourself: What projects am I now inspired to pursue after this reflection? What can we work on this year to further our learning and growth?
  • “Write it down and take a moment to ask yourself, ‘Why was this really important, and what came of it?’ Even if it doesn’t win, it’s a really great exercise to memorialize it and write it down. It is really helpful for your own self-image, and also for marketing or grant proposals.” – Libbie Sparadeo, VTDigger

For the LION Awards, our judges love to spotlight examples of work that push the conventions and boundaries of what independent news “should” look like. So don’t be afraid to submit creative examples of how you’re running your news business and/or serving your community. We want to hear about it, and others will, too!

“We can all learn from each other,” Kimberly said. “When you put something up on the screen at the LION Awards, it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s a good idea; why didn’t we think of that?’ And it allows you to replicate it in different communities.”

We heard similar takeaways during our “Making the Case” panel discussion at the 2023 Southeast News Sustainability Meetup.

The Food Section’s Hanna Raskin emphasized the importance of sharing your organization’s unique story in a way that decision makers can understand and rally behind. “Generalities won’t get you anywhere,” she said. “When you’re making the case for why someone should care about your organization, be specific and give details.” 

Generalities aren’t limited to how you present your work — but also what you apply for. Scalawag and Press On’s Alyzza May spoke about pursuing the funding opportunities or awards most aligned with an organization’s mission. “We show people where their values and money can be in alignment,” she said. 

Demonstration is key. When applying for funding, the group discussed developing and articulating a clear plan for how to use those dollars and — of course — tying it all back to growing your news business toward sustainability.

Interested in additional resources for demonstrating your organization’s impact?

We suggest starting here:

• Business Awards – How to Write a Winning Entry (LinkedIn)
  • This article delves into the significance of throwing your hat in the ring for industry awards and how to craft compelling award submissions.
• Introduction to Grant Writing for News Organizations (The Lenfest Institute)
  • This self-paced course guides you through each step of the grant writing process and includes instructional videos complemented by a Grant Writing Workbook.
• Storytelling That Moves People (Harvard Business Review)
  • This article explores the persuasive power of storytelling, drawing insights from renowned screenwriting lecturer Robert McKee.
• Basic Toolkit for Pitching a Solutions-Oriented Story (Solutions Journalism Learning Lab)
  • This article explains how to pitch solutions-oriented stories, expanding on the fundamental questions every pitch should answer: “So What?” “Why Now?” and “Why Me?”
• How to Get a Grant Webinar (Fund for Investigative Journalism)
  • In this 30-minute webinar, you’ll receive invaluable guidance on applying for (and winning) grants. Get firsthand perspectives from FIJ’s Board of Directors and hear from a grant recipient who shares her path to a winning application.
• Strategies for Tracking Impact – A Toolkit for Collaborative Journalism (Solutions Journalism Network)
  • This guide can help you track your progress more effectively and identify what is most important to your organization, like building trust with your audience or getting more people interested in local news.
• Impact Tracking Worksheet (Solutions Journalism Network)
  • This worksheet is a fantastic tool for quickly and consistently assessing what impact looks like for your organization, and your progress toward it.

We hope you find these resources inspiring and helpful. If you’re considering applying for any 2024 LION Sustainability Awards, please submit your entries by April 15, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

The post How to most effectively talk about your news business’s impact appeared first on LION Publishers.

Reports to: Executive Director

Location: Remote within USA

Compensation: $130-140K, eligible for benefits (see details below)

Job Summary

Over the past four years, LION has grown its membership by 168 percent and grown our ambitions in how we can best help our members’ news businesses reach sustainability. We recently published a Strategic Growth Plan that outlines these ambitions over the next five years, and the Development Director has an essential role to play in our fourth strategic goal: revenue diversification. 

The Development Director will be responsible for diversifying and growing LION’s revenue streams by designing and executing an individual donor program, in-person events strategy and logistics, overseeing marketing and branding, and providing strategic input on opportunities for mission-aligned earned income. This role will also collaborate with the Executive Director to design and execute strategy for multi-year institutional support, including increasing the number of institutional donors. 

The Development Director will join LION’s executive team, contributing to organizational strategy decisions that will help LION fulfill goals related to the sustainability of LION, including diversifying our revenue streams, making LION a destination for employees to grow as professionals, and building LION’s resilience with a scenario planning strategy.

Our team believes that relevant, accurate and culturally competent local news and information helps people fully engage in civic life, make more informed decisions and better understand the world around them. If you’re interested in helping us make this vision a reality and working in a space of optimism and growth, learn more about the job and how to apply below.

Key Responsibilities

Revenue Strategy and Operations (40%)

• Diversify LION’s revenue streams with a focus on institutional giving and diversifying our existing funders, and with a secondary strategy to increase our other revenue streams
• Support the Executive Director to set institutional donor strategy and manage the organization’s institutional donors, taking over some donor relationships over time
• Steward annual give/get gifts from Board Members
• Document fundraising pipeline and acknowledge gifts

Events Strategy and Operations (20%)

• Design and execute LION’s events strategy in service of LION’s revenue goals, supervising contracted project manager 
• Internally project manage all in-person events with a significant fundraising component
• Fundraise and sell sponsorships for our Independent News Sustainability Summit and explore other revenue-based opportunities that will leverage the event to the benefit of LION, its members and the local independent news industry

Marketing Strategy and Oversight (20%)

• Design and oversee LION’s marketing strategy to ensure external audiences understand what LION does and its impact on its members and the independent news industry
• Ensure consistency of branding across LION’s website, publications and collateral

People Management and Development (10%)

• Delegate workstreams effectively by setting clear, actionable goals for direct report(s) (marketing manager)
• Provide ongoing reinforcing and redirecting feedback to direct report(s)  to ensure that work product meets or exceeds expectations
• Actively monitor direct report(s)’  bandwidth and proactively collaborate with directs to adjust priorities and/or work product expectations to prevent burnout
• Align with direct report(s)  on their professional development goals, and hold directs accountable for making progress towards these goals throughout the year

Contribute to LION’s organizational strategy (10%)

• Collaborate with the executive leadership team to set LION’s vision and direction and organizational culture
• Collaborate with directors to plan for future staffing and capacity needs, while contributing to discussions on that growth and change’s impact on culture, systems and processes
• Attract, develop and retain development and marketing team’s talent by aligning strategy with a positive team culture while upholding the organization’s core values

Other duties as assigned.

LION is an Equal Opportunity Employer

LION believes that a team with diversity of backgrounds and experiences will generate the most innovative ideas and ultimately do the best work in support of our mission. This is why we welcome contractors, vendors, staff and board members who contribute to a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment. We understand diversity as multi-dimensional and intersectional, encompassing aspects of our identities including race and ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, ability, class, geography, lived experiences and more. We welcome and encourage all qualified candidates to apply to opportunities at LION so that we build a team that reflects the diversity of independent news entrepreneurs we wish to serve.

We know there are great candidates who might not check all the boxes listed below or who possess important skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. 

Skills and Qualifications for The Role

• Fundraising experience: Minimum 3 years’ direct experience with crafting fundraising materials, tracking pipeline status, managing donor relationships, etc. Familiarity with the journalism philanthropy space preferred but not required.
• Communication: Strategically designs and delivers highly impactful multi-mode communications tailored to specific audiences, driving engagement and achieving desired outcomes
• People Leadership:  Demonstrates strength in core leadership and management skills, including setting clear expectations, guiding and providing feedback and ensuring accountability of work deliverables in a constructive and inclusive way
• Planning and Prioritization: Takes a leadership role in managing complex workloads, guiding others in effective workload management and task prioritization, and continually refining work procedures to optimize time management and productivity
• Technical skills: Familiarity with fundraising software and tools to track progress throughout the year (Salesforce NPSP is a plus)

Skills and Expectations for Teamwork at LION

• Work in a way that upholds and reflects our organizational values: Being data-informed, equitable and inclusive, people-centered, systems thinkers, transparent and iterative
• Use digital tools and platforms to stay organized, communicate transparently, and collaborate with team members remotely 
• Collaborate strategically with others, clearly defining processes for decision making
• Give and receive constructive feedback to help the team produce its best work
• Celebrate our wins and learning moments
• Take on an experimental mindset and demonstrate flexibility to iterate on our work, systems, and processes 
• Be willing and able to ask for help when needed, and demonstrate an ability to learn and grow in the role

Physical Requirements and Environmental Conditions

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position, at a desk or similar, 90% of the time. Time spent in stationary location includes operating a computer and relevant peripherals and communicating via phone.

Travel Requirements

• Available to travel for staff retreats 1-2 times per year (approx. 3 days per retreat)
• Available to travel for annual LION member event annually (approx. 3 days)

About LION

Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional journalism association for independent news publishers. While most of our 500+ members across the U.S. and Canada run local news businesses, we also have members who serve larger regions and specific identity-based communities across geographies. LION provides teaching, resources and community to independent news entrepreneurs as they build and develop sustainable businesses. One of our core values is being people-centered, and here are some ways we build that culture for our staff. 

90 Day Introductory Period

The first 90 days of employment is a try-out time for the employee and the Company. During this introductory period, the Company will evaluate employees’ suitability for employment and employees can evaluate the Company as well. The purpose of the introductory period is to be intentional about setting clear goals for the employee to accomplish, prompting regular feedback and support from the employee’s manager, and providing structure for a candid conversation about whether either the employee or the manager believes there is a misalignment of the employee’s competencies with and interest in the role.

Benefits

• Medical PPO, Vision & Dental fully paid by employer; 50% paid for dependents
• Short-term disability, long-term disability, life, and worker’s compensation insurance paid by employer
• Flexible Spending Account and Dependent Care HSA
• Paid Time Off (including sick days) is 20 days per year 
• Paid holidays (including week of July 4 and Christmas Eve through New Years Day) is 17 days in 2024
• Up to 12 weeks fully paid family/caregiver leave
• 401K with employer match up to 3.5%
• Flexible working hours
• No-meeting Fridays
• Annual professional development budget
• Monthly work-from-home stipend
• For new hires: Health insurance stipend until eligible for employer medical coverage to begin
• Eligible for year-end, surplus-dependent bonus

Application Materials

Applications are now closed. 

• Your resume
• Online links to examples of marketing materials that you have created/edited (e.g. annual reports, appeals email)
• Answers to the following questions:
• Please review the Strategic Growth Plan linked in the full job description. What is one thing in the plan that excites you? What is one main question you have for us that would inform how you’d approach the Development Director role? 
• Briefly describe a time when you successfully developed an individual major donor relationship or ran an appeal campaign. What challenges did you face? What did you learn? 
• Briefly describe a time when you managed the logistics and execution of a successful in-person event with a significant fundraising component. How did you stay organized and collaborate successfully with your team, prospective audience, contractors and vendors? What challenges did you face? What did you learn?
• LION Publishers has a commitment to building a diverse community that is inclusive and welcoming of all members, particularly those who identify as coming from an underserved community, including publishers who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a person of color and/or LGBTQIA+. How would you approach understanding the perspectives of LION members from diverse backgrounds in order to tailor messaging to current members, prospective members, and prospective funders?

If you have questions about this role, reach out to chriskrewson@lionpublishers.com to learn more.

The post LION is hiring a Development Director! appeared first on LION Publishers.

Hayley’s role — a new one for LION — will be to grow our membership, attract new publishers to our programs and communicate our impact on the independent news industry. You’ll hear from Hayley via our newsletter, which she’ll take over in July, and on our social media channels.  Her work will also include:

• Designing an editorial and product strategy that demonstrates to prospective members what we offer
• Collecting, evaluating and sharing data-based insights about prospective members’ needs to help inform our current membership offerings
• Promoting our members and their work to funders and the broader industry

Hayley comes to us from Case Western Reserve University, where she worked in higher education marketing. She got her start at ​​the international Women in Manufacturing Association, where she led membership growth and marketing efforts.

She is based in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, where she likes to build LEGOs, explore Cleveland Metroparks, try her very best to bake (and not burn anything), and thrift for forgotten treasures. 

We’re delighted that Hayley is joining our team! You can reach her at hayleymilloy@lionpublishers.com

The post Hayley Milloy joins LION as our Marketing Manager appeared first on LION Publishers.

Dear California Assembly Members:

I’m writing in reference to the California Journalism Protection Act. I am the executive director of Local Independent Online News Publishers, otherwise known as LION. We have around 450 members mostly across the United States, with some in Canada. California is our second-largest membership state, with 53 of our publishers in its borders. 

But those members – not to mention the owners of hundreds of weekly and community publications across California – are not the beneficiaries of this legislation. The CJPA, as written, would reward and advantage newspaper chains, and the ghost newspapers they’ve created in their wake. These legacy players – which operate more than half of the nation’s newspapers, by circulation –  don’t deserve a redistribution of advertising dollars in the name of solving the problem they’ve spent so many years causing.

The evidence of this is clear in how the proposed bill defines local news: As anything “the covered platform has displayed or presented to California residents.” The funds this bill would redistribute from platforms are aimed at publishers producing “news or information that concerns local, regional, national, or international matters of public interest.”

And under those definitions, the publicly traded newspaper company Gannett – with headquarters in McLean, VA, and publications in Palm Springs, Victorville, Redding, Camarillo, Visalia, Stockton, Victorville and Salinas – could cash in without hiring a single reporter.

It’s already doing a version of this in Salinas, as described recently by the Los Angeles Times. The Salinas Californian has no full-time reporters on its staff. It’s a sad example of researcher Penny Abernathy’s definition of a “ghost newspaper.” 

But under the proposed bill, all the Californian would need to do is republish posts from across owner Gannett’s USA Today Network – produced elsewhere, but indexed by a platform and read by Californians – and cash the check.

Another newspaper owner that would follow a similar strategy: The hedge fund-owned McClatchy, with titles in Sacramento, Modesto, Merced, Fresno and San Luis Obispo. 

But the big winner in this California lottery is MediaNews Group, otherwise known as Digital First Media. It’s owned by Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund based in Manhattan with a reputation of gutting its newsrooms. MediaNews publishes 30 titles in California.

By way of contrast, my members are generally small. Some 80 percent have five or fewer full-time equivalent employees in their entire company, not just their newsrooms. Median revenue in 2022 was $130,000 – slightly skewed by some of our larger members, such as Cal Matters and the Long Beach Post, both success stories in the Golden State for different reasons.

These publishers – including Santa Cruz Local;  the Mendocino Voice and Cityside – tend to hail from local newsrooms. Often they start small, using their newsroom buyout, cashing in retirement funds, or even mortgaging their homes to serve their communities. 

LION helps hundreds of similar organizations, greatly aided by funding from the Google News Initiative and the Meta Journalism Project. That has underwritten training programs, fellowships, and research into this emerging ecosystem. So far, the results are encouraging, though too many news entrepreneurs building digital businesses tell us their efforts are not sustainable.

The CJPA does not change that for them. The $100,000 floor for revenue in particular leaves out many of these member publishers. They do not cover national or international news, focusing their efforts where it’s most needed: The communities where they live and serve.

By defining local news as anything read by people in California, there’s no incentive for the publishers helped most by this measure to produce what the bill terms as  “journalism (that) plays an essential role in California and in local communities,” let alone further “the ability of local news organizations to continue to provide the public with critical information about their communities who read news.”

Instead, the measure would incentivize publishers to produce cheap clickbait, or republish shared work across dozens of properties, and then claim a payment for shuffling commoditized content.

California is already a leader in finding innovative ways to support local journalism efforts, including the recently-passed $25 million Berkeley fellowship program. That program was created with the explicit aim to “support and strengthen local reporting in underserved and historically underrepresented areas across the state.”

I’m hoping the Assembly can keep that aim as its North Star as it continues its work to help the cause of local journalism – not by allowing the worst owners in publishing to cash in on the problem they helped create.

Sincerely,
Chris Krewson
Executive Director, LION Publishers

The post Which publishers will benefit, and which wouldn’t, from the California Journalism Protection Act appeared first on LION Publishers.

NAME and OFFICE

The name of this corporation is Local Independent Online News Publishers, Inc. (LION) (the “Corporation”). These bylaws have been adopted pursuant to the Articles of Incorporation of this Corporation and in accordance with the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. The principal office of LION, Inc. shall be 4023 Kennett Pike Suite 50019, Wilmington, DE 19807.

ARTICLE II

PURPOSES and MISSION

The purposes of this Corporation are those stated in the Articles of Incorporation – exclusively charitable, educational or scientific in nature as defined and limited by Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or the corresponding provisions of any future United States Internal Revenue law). The mission of LION is to strengthen the local news industry by helping independent news publishers build more sustainable businesses.

ARTICLE III

MEMBERS

Section 1

Any interested person who meets the requirements for membership as such requirements may, from time to time, be established by the staff shall be eligible for membership in the Corporation. Application for membership shall be made in writing to the Corporation and shall be acted upon in accordance with procedures established by the staff and approved by the Board. 

Classes and Qualifications.

The staff, with approval from the Board of Directors, shall determine and set forth in separate documents the qualifications, initiation fees, dues, terms, and other conditions of each class of member. 

Section 2

Removal.

Any member may be removed from membership for failure to meet membership criteria as established by the staff and approved by the Board, or for allegations of engagement in illegal, unprofessional or immoral acts substantiated pursuant to the member code of conduct and conflict policy. Membership shall automatically be suspended for nonpayment of dues.

ARTICLE IV

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Section 1

Powers.

There shall be a Board of Directors of the Corporation, which shall oversee and control the business, property, and affairs of the Corporation, except as otherwise expressly provided by law, the Articles of Incorporation of the Corporation, or these Bylaws.

Section 2

Number and Qualifications.

The Board of Directors of the Corporation (the “Board”) shall be composed of up to 15 individuals. The number of directors may be decreased, but no decrease shall have the effect of shortening the term of any incumbent director. A simple majority of the Directors shall be members of the organization.

Section 3.

Election and Term of Office.

The members of the Board of Directors shall be elected by the Board of Directors. Directors on the Board shall serve for a term of three years.

– Any Board member can serve only a maximum of six years consecutively. A Board member is eligible to re-join the Board after 18 months of being away from the Board, except when by unanimous Board consent a member of the Board is requested to serve until a stipulated date and such member accepts the request; the stipulated date should be no more than the year from the date on which the term extension takes effect. Consecutive service refers to time served on the Board without a gap of at least 18 months in between each period of service. 

Section 4.

Resignation.

Any director may resign at any time by giving written notice to the Chair of the Board of Directors. Such resignation shall take effect at the time specified, or, if no time is specified, at the time of acceptance as determined by the Chair.

Section 5

Removal.

Any director may be removed from office, with or without cause, by a three-fourths vote of the voting Directors at any regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors called expressly for that purpose.

Section 6

Vacancies.

Vacancies shall be filled by majority vote of the remaining members of the Board of Directors for the unexpired term.

Section 7

Regular Meetings.

A regular annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the Corporation shall be held each year, at such time, day, and place as shall be designated by the Board of Directors. In addition to the annual meeting, at least two other regular meetings shall be held each year.

Section 8

Special Meetings.

Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be called at the direction of the Chair or by a majority of the voting directors then in office, to be held at such time, day, and place as shall be designated in the notice of the meeting.

Section 9

Notice.

Notice of the time, day, and place of any meeting of the Board of Directors shall be given at least seven (7) days previous to the meeting. Such notice shall be made in writing, via email or other means. The purpose for which a special meeting is called shall be stated in the notice. Any director may waive notice of any meeting by a written statement executed either before or after the meeting. Attendance and participation at a meeting without objection to notice shall also constitute a waiver of notice.

Section 10

Quorum.

A majority of the directors then in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the Board of Directors.

Section 11

Manner of Acting.

Except as otherwise expressly required by law, the Articles of Incorporation of the Corporation, or these Bylaws, the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present at any meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the Board of Directors. Each director shall have one vote. Voting by proxy shall not be permitted.

Section 12

Written Consent In Lieu of a Meeting.

The Board may take action without a meeting if written consent to the action is signed by three-quarters of the total number of directors. Such action may be made electronically, including via email, and recorded at the next regular meeting.

Section 13

Telephone/Electronic Meeting.

Any one or more directors may participate in a meeting of the Board of Directors by means of a conference telephone or similar telecommunications device, which allows all persons participating in the meeting to hear each other. Participation by telephone or other electronic means shall be equivalent to presence in person at the meeting for purposes of determining if a quorum is present.

Section 14

Duality or Conflicts of Interest.

(a) In the event that any director has a conflict of interest that might properly limit such director’s fair and impartial participation in Board deliberations or decisions, such director shall inform the Board as to the circumstances of such conflict. If those circumstances require the nonparticipation of the affected director, the Board may nonetheless request from the director any appropriate non-confidential information which might inform its decisions. “Conflict of interest,” as referred to herein, shall include but shall not be limited to, any transaction by or with the Corporation in which a director has a direct or indirect interest, or any transaction in which a director is unable to exercise impartial judgment or otherwise act in the best interests of the Corporation.

(b) No director shall cast a vote, nor take part in the final deliberation in any matter in which the member, members of the member’s immediate family or any organization to which such director has allegiance, has an interest that may be seen as competing with the interest of the Corporation. Any director who believes that they themselves may have such a conflict of interest shall notify the Board prior to deliberation on the matter in question, and the Board shall make the final determination as to whether any director has a conflict of interest in any matter. Any allegations of an unresolved conflict of interest specific to the Board or any committees shall be referred to the Governance Committee for review; members of the committee shall make recommendations to the full board for resolution. It is the responsibility of the Committee Chair to ensure conflict of interest recommendations reach the Board. The minutes of the Board meeting shall reflect disclosure of any conflict of interest and the recusal of the interested director.

ARTICLE V

OFFICERS

Section 1

Voting Officers.

The voting officers of the Corporation shall consist of a Chair, a Vice Chair, an Immediate Past Chair, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. 

Section 2

Election of Officers.

The officers of the Corporation shall be elected by the majority of those current board members every two years at a regular annual meeting .

Section 3

Term of Office.

The officers of the Corporation shall be installed at the meeting at which they are elected and shall hold office for two years or until their respective successors shall have been duly elected.

– The positions of Chair and Vice Chair shall be elected every two years.

– The Chair, Vice Chair, Immediate Past Chair, Secretary and Treasurer shall serve in the same position a maximum of four years consecutively.

Section 4

Resignation.

Any officer may resign at any time by giving written notice to the Chair of the Board. Such resignation shall take effect at the time specified in the notice, or if no time is specified, then immediately.

The Chair may resign by providing written notice to the Vice Chair. In the event the Chair resigns, the Vice Chair will become the Chair. The resigning Chair will not become the Immediate Past Chair; the existing Immediate Past Chair shall remain in that role. 

Section 5

Removal.

Any officer may be removed, without cause, as determined by a two-thirds vote of the Board present at any meeting at which there is a quorum. In addition, any member of the Board of Directors may be removed for a substantial cause by the majority vote of the Board present at any meeting at which there is a quorum. Substantial cause shall include failure to participate in the activities of the Board of Directors as evidenced by the failure to attend at least three (3) consecutive meetings of the Board of Directors.

Section 6

Vacancies.

A vacancy in any office shall be filled by the Board of Directors for the unexpired term.

Section 7

Chair.

The Chair shall provide oversight to the organization and its executive director. The Chair may sign Board resolutions and other instruments necessary to conduct corporation business, and shall perform all duties incident to the office of Chair as may be prescribed by the Board of Directors.

Section 8

Vice Chair.

The Vice Chair assumes the Chair’s leadership roles when the Chair is unavailable. The Vice Chair will serve as a chair-in-waiting, becoming Chair, upon Board approval, when the term of preceding Chair ends.

Section 9

Immediate Past Chair.

The Immediate Past Chair assumes leadership roles when the Chair and Vice Chair are unavailable. The Immediate Past Chair provides advice and guidance to the Chair and Vice Chair. If the Immediate Past Chair is term limited past the period of their term as Chair, they shall serve on the Board of Directors for one additional year.

Section 10

Secretary.

The Secretary shall keep the minutes of the meetings of the Board of Directors in a manner easily accessible and searchable by Board members and the Executive Director; see that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provisions of these Bylaws; ensure staff members keep corporate records; and in general perform all duties incident to the office of Secretary and such other duties as may be assigned by the Board of Directors.

Section 11

Treasurer.

The Treasurer shall oversee the financial administration of the Corporation, including but not limited to oversight of financial transactions and recordkeeping, the performance of associated audits, and in general perform all the duties incident to the office of Treasurer and other duties as from time to time may be assigned to the Treasurer by the Board of Directors. The Treasurer shall serve as the Chair of the Finance Committee.

Section 12

Executive Director.

The Board shall have one employee, to be called the Executive Director. This person shall be an officer of the Corporation but will not be a voting member of the Board of Directors.

(A) The Executive Director shall be chosen by a three-fourths majority of directors present at a special meeting called for such purpose.

(B) Within 30 days of such vote, and with direction from the Board, the Chair shall negotiate and execute a contract with the Executive Director to enumerate and describe that person’s duties and responsibilities; method of professional evaluation; pay and benefits; and any other parameters determined by the Board.

(C) The Executive Director shall control the day-to-day operations and finances of the Corporation, and shall sign contracts and enter agreements that bind the Corporation.

(D) The Executive Director shall be responsible for all hiring, evaluation, accountability and other general subordinate personnel operations of the organization.

(E) In the absence of an Executive Director, the Deputy Director will serve as the Interim Executive Director. In the case that there is no Deputy Director (or equivalent senior position) to serve in this capacity, the Board Chair shall serve as the Interim Executive Director until such time as the Board of Directors shall hold an emergency meeting to select an interim Executive Director.

ARTICLE VI

COMMITTEES

Section 1

The Board Chair and Vice Chair shall attend every LION Committee meeting. Should there be a vacancy in the chairpersonship of a committee, the Board Vice Chair shall fill that role until the vacancy is filled.

All LION Board members are expected to serve on at least one committee. Every committee must have at least one Board member in addition to the chair of that committee.

Executive Committee

The five officers of the Board enumerated in Article V Section 1 and the chairs of chartered committees shall constitute the Executive Committee, which is chaired by the active Board Chair. This committee shall be able to act on behalf of the entire Board in situations where time is of the essence and the entire Board cannot meet; such decisions are to be fully explained, including any vote counts, at the next Board meeting. This committee shall not have the authority to amend or repeal these Bylaws, elect or remove any officer or director, adopt a plan of merger, or authorize the voluntary dissolution of the Corporation. The committee shall meet at intervals determined by the Chair to be sufficient to complete its work.

In the event of a vote that ends in a tie, the Board Chair shall break the tie.

Regular Executive Committee meetings are open to observation from current Board members. Visiting / observing Board members not on the Executive Committee shall not vote on matters that come before the committee.

The Committee shall conduct the annual review of the Executive Director. 

Section 2

Finance Committee

The Finance committee shall be chaired by the Treasurer. The committee’s principal responsibility is oversight of the budget and to ensure effective and appropriate fiscal policies are in place to govern the board and employees. The committee shall not make policy or approve budgets, but rather evaluate financial matters concerning LION and make recommendations to the full Board for approval. The committee may have as members persons the Committee Chair deems qualified. The Finance Committee Chair shall determine the sufficient number of persons to serve on the committee. The Finance committee shall meet at least quarterly.

Section 3

Board Development and Recruitment Committee

The chair of the committee shall be appointed by the Board Chair. The Committee Chair must be a member of the LION Board of Directors. The committee’s principal responsibility is the professional development of the active board and recruitment of board members to serve the organization. The committee shall not make policy or approve new board members, but rather evaluate board development and recruitment matters concerning LION and make recommendations to the Board Chair for approval by the full board. The committee may have as members persons the Committee Chair deems qualified. The Committee Chair shall determine the sufficient number of persons to serve on the committee. The committee shall meet at least quarterly.

Section 4

Governance Committee

The chair of the committee shall be appointed by the Board Chair. The Committee Chair must be a member of the LION board of directors. The committee’s principal responsibility is to facilitate good governance of the Board’s and organization’s adherence to by-laws and policies duly established by the organization. The committee shall not make policy, but rather evaluate governance matters concerning LION’s Board and make recommendations to the full board for approval. The committee may recommend amendments to the bylaws for approval by the full board. Any allegations of an unresolved conflict of interest specific to the Board or any committees shall be referred to the Governance Committee for review; members of the committee shall make recommendations to the full board for resolution. It is the responsibility of the Committee Chair to ensure conflict of interest recommendations reach the Board. The committee may have as members persons the Committee Chair deems qualified. The Committee Chair shall determine the sufficient number of persons to serve on the committee. The committee shall meet at least quarterly.

Section 5

Other Committees and Task Forces

The Board of Directors may create and appoint members to such other committees and task forces as they shall deem appropriate. Such committees and task forces shall have the power and duties designated by the Board of Directors, and shall give advice and make non-binding recommendations to the Board.

ARTICLE VII

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Section 1

Fiscal Year.

The fiscal year of the Corporation shall be the calendar year.

ARTICLE VIII

INDEMNIFICATION

Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the Corporation may indemnify any director or officer or any former director or officer, and may by resolution of the Board of Directors indemnify any employee, against any and all expenses and liabilities incurred by the director, officer, or employee in connection with any claim, action, suit, or proceeding to which  the director, officer, or employee is made a party by reason of being a director, officer, or employee. However, there shall be no indemnification in relation to matters as to which  the director, officer, or employee shall be adjudged to be guilty of a criminal offense or liable to the Corporation for damages arising out of his or her own gross negligence in the performance of a duty to the Corporation. The Board of Directors shall also authorize the purchase of insurance on behalf of any director, officer, employee, or other agent against any liability incurred by him which arises out of such person’s status as a director, officer, employee, or agent, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify the person against that liability under law. Amounts paid in indemnification of expenses and liabilities may include, but shall not be limited to, counsel fees and other fees; costs and disbursements; and judgments, fines, and penalties against, and amounts paid in settlement by, such director, officer, or employee. The Corporation may advance expenses or, where appropriate, may itself undertake the defense of any director, officer, or employee. However, such director, officer, or employee shall repay such expenses if it should be ultimately determined that the director, officer, or employee is not entitled to indemnification under this article.

ARTICLE IX

AMENDMENTS TO BYLAWS

These Bylaws may be amended or new Bylaws adopted upon the affirmative vote of three-fourths of the current members of the Board of Directors at any regular or special meeting of the Board. The notice of the meeting shall set forth a summary of the proposed amendments.

Approved by the Board of Directors, Sept. 15, 2012.

Updated Jan. 3, 2013, with the approval of the Board of Directors to correct a typographical error in Article V, Section 1.

Amended June 12, 2017, upon a vote of the Board of Directors to expand the maximum number of directors to 15

Amended November 11, 2018, throughout upon a vote of the Board of Directors. Primarily, added Vice Chair, Immediate Past Chair and Executive Director. Also set term limits for board members.

Amended November 19, 2021 with additional criteria for possible removal of Board members.

Amended April 18, 2022 throughout upon a vote of the Board of Directors, including to update the following: LION’s principal address following re-incorporation; new mission statement; current classes of members; current division of labor between board and staff; member removal protocol; addition of membership committee charter.

Amended Mar 21, 2024 throughout upon a vote of the Board of Directors, including to update the following: LION’s mission statement; the extension of the term of the board chair; to clarify the “voting officers” of the board; to update the criteria for removing a board member; and to remove the list of various specified classes of members.

The post Bylaws of Local Independent Online News Publishers appeared first on LION Publishers.

Status: Full-time exempt (not eligible for overtime), with 90-day probationary period (see details below)

Reports to: Director of Teaching & Learning

Location: Remote within USA

Compensation: $80,000-$90,000, eligible for benefits (see details below)

Job Summary

If you are passionate about connecting independent news businesses with practical and actionable coaching support to help them become more sustainable, and building a network of coaches to do that worthy work, we’d love for you to join us at LION Publishers. 

LION provides teaching, resources and community to independent news entrepreneurs as they build and develop sustainable businesses.

Much of that work is done through training and professional development, which we enrich with 1:1 coaching from those who have specific subject-area expertise from inside and outside the journalism industry.

In addition to serving as a program coach, the senior manager of coaching will recruit, train and manage a roster of coaches across LION’s programs and professional development offerings,  including:

• Programs that focus on operational readiness, revenue growth and launching a digital news startup
• LION’s Sustainability Audit — a tool that assesses a news organization’s strengths, opportunities and priorities along the path to becoming a sustainable news business

• The News Entrepreneur Academy — a forthcoming online training portal for aspiring news entrepreneurs and existing independent news publishers
• Ongoing professional development — a host of options that include strategic coaching, consulting, webinars, partnerships, internships and sustainability audits

Our team believes that relevant, accurate and culturally competent local news and information helps people fully engage in civic life, make more informed decisions and better understand the world around them. If you’re interested in helping us make this vision a reality and working in a space of optimism, growth and community-building, learn more about the job and how to apply below.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and recruit program coaches and sustainability audit analysts
• Onboard and manage coaches and audit analysts
• Design and execute training programs for new and returning coaches
• Coach across the programs and participate in audit analyses
• Contribute to program design and instruction
• Design, execute and manage the data collection process from coaching sessions

LION is an Equal Opportunity Employer

LION is committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, people of different levels of physical ability, and anyone with relevant skills and qualifications.

We know there are great candidates who might not check all the boxes listed below or who possess important skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. 

Skills and Qualifications for The Role

• Experienced trainer/business coach/educator: You are skilled at designing and delivering people-centered learning experiences that build skills and competencies
• Grounded in entrepreneurship: You have deep experience in at least one aspect of running a business or broad experience with a variety of aspects. The strongest candidates will have experience with news businesses in particular.
• Relationship-oriented: You are passionate about building networks, facilitating connections, spotting talent in unexpected places and fostering relationships between people working together toward a shared mission
• Growth-minded: You are always looking to learn, stretch and grow, and creating environments for others to do the same

Skills and Expectations for Teamwork at LION

• Work in a way that upholds and reflects our organizational values
• Use digital tools and platforms to stay organized, communicate transparently, and collaborate with team members remotely 
• Collaborate strategically with others, clearly defining processes for decision making
• Give and receive constructive feedback to help the team produce its best work
• Celebrate our wins and learning moments
• Take on an experimental mindset and demonstrate flexibility to iterate on our work, systems, and processes 
• Be willing and able to ask for help when needed, and demonstrate an ability to learn and grow in the role

About LION

Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional journalism association for independent news publishers. While most of our 400+ members across the U.S. and Canada run local news businesses, we also have members who serve larger regions and specific identity-based communities across geographies. LION provides teaching, resources and community to independent news entrepreneurs as they build and develop sustainable businesses. One of our core values is being people-centered, and here are some ways we build that culture for our staff: 

90 Day Probation Period

The first 90 days of employment is a probationary period, during which the new hire has clear goals, criteria for successful work product, and regular feedback from their manager. As a result of the new hire’s 90 day self-reflection and manager’s assessment, the two will discuss whether the new hire will stay on with LION and whether it will be in the role as originally scoped.

Benefits

• Medical PPO, Vision & Dental fully paid by employer; 50% paid for dependents
• Short-term disability, long-term disability, life, and worker’s compensation insurance paid by employer
• Paid Time Off (including sick days) is 20 days per year 
• Paid holidays (including Christmas Eve through New Years Day) is 14 days in 2022
• Up to 12 weeks fully paid family/caregiver leave
• 401K with employer match up to 3.5%
• Flexible working hours
• No-meeting Fridays
• Annual professional development budget
• Monthly work-from-home stipend
• For new hires: Health insurance stipend until eligible for employer medical coverage to begin
• Eligible for year-end, surplus-dependent bonus

Application Materials

Submit your materials using this form by 11 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday, March 20.  

• Your resume
• Any online links that show your work (a Twitter profile, a portfolio page, etc.) and/or discuss your work (a website, program description, article/post, report, etc.)
• Answers to the following questions:
  • Tell us about a time you designed and executed a learning experience. This could be a training, coaching plan, course, etc. What was the goal? What were the major challenges and successes? What did you learn?
  • Tell us about a time when you saw great potential in someone when their skills and experience weren’t an obvious match for the opportunity. What did you see in that person and how did you identify it? How did you cultivate that potential? What was the outcome?
  • How does this role and/or working with independent local news businesses fit into your long-term career ambitions? 

If you have questions about this role, reach out to LION’s Director of Teaching & Learning, Lisa Heyamoto, at lisa@lionpublishers.com to learn more.

The post LION is hiring a Senior Manager of Coaching! appeared first on LION Publishers.

But what do these three pillars look like in practice?

In our latest episode of News Guest, we explore seven ideas to improve news business sustainability that were first shared at the 2021 LION Local Journalism Awards, including ideas for organizing your team, engaging your audience, and streamlining your workflows.  

You can watch the full five-minute presentations from last month’s Local Journalism Awards on YouTube, or listen to the podcast episode for a deep-dive conversation focused on three of them:

• Why La Converse started hosting “Bitchin’ Fridays” to help their team unpack and unwind from emotionally challenging work 
• How Madison Minutes is using a CRM to measure and improve how it listens to its audience 
• How Queerency designed a video experiment on Instagram to test a new user acquisition strategy 

Got questions for these founders or any of the other presenters at last month’s event? Join our News Entrepreneur Community on Slack and share your questions in this thread, and we’ll help track down the answers you need to apply these ideas in your own newsroom. 

News Guest is a monthly podcast to help you build and grow a sustainable news business. If you enjoy this episode, please rate and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you do your streaming.

The post 7 ideas to make your news business more sustainable in 2022 appeared first on LION Publishers.

That’s why we’re thrilled to announce, in partnership with the Google News Initiative, the inaugural cohort for our GNI Startups Boot Camp Canada.

These 16 startups will embark on an intensive eight-week program that includes the training and coaching that will help them launch sustainably and meet their communities’ information needs. 

“We’re looking forward to working with this passionate, diverse and all-Canadian cohort of emerging news entrepreneurs, and supporting them on their path to launching an independent news business,” said Andrew Wicken, Head of News Partnerships at Google Canada. “The curriculum has been adapted specifically to address the realities of operating in Canada and supports our mission of helping to build a thriving, diverse and innovative Canadian news ecosystem. We’ve seen how this program can accelerate their progress, build connections and community, and set them on a path to sustainability.”

The cohort members were selected by an independent panel of judges based on their compelling ideas, potential to make a strong impact and commitment to making their publications financially sustainable. They’ll be guided by the following team of exceptional industry experts:

• Boot Camp Co-Producer (and 2020 Boot Camp graduate!) Eva Voinigescu is a freelance journalist and audio producer based in Toronto. She currently produces the Energy vs Climate podcast.
• Boot Camp Coach Natasha Grzincic (Gur-zin-sitch) is the deputy editor at VICE Canada and the force behind Tipping Point, VICE’s series on environmental justice. She’s also a co-founder of Canadian Journalists of Colour, “a networking and resource-sharing group for racialized journalists that’s now over 1,300 strong.”
• Boot Camp Coach Hannah Sung is a journalist and co-founder of Media Girlfriends, a podcast production company focused on inclusivity in media. She also writes the newsletter At The End Of the Day.
• Boot Camp Director Phillip Smith is a veteran consultant and coach. His passion is helping newsrooms to make more money, helping news startups grow their audience, and helping journalists succeed as entrepreneurs. The boot camp curriculum was developed during his time as a John S. Knight fellow at Stanford University.

“As someone born in Toronto General Hospital, who spent childhood summers with family in Quebec and Nova Scotia, as well as having spent a decade working in a startup newsroom in Vancouver, the opportunity to make the Boot Camp available to fellow Canadians is a real honour,” Smith said. “The individuals in this cohort are determined and their initiatives are very exciting — I can’t wait to get started.”

About the 2021 cohort:

• 10 publications will focus on a local or regional audience; 6 will focus on a demographic or identity-based audience
• 14 publications will explicitly serve an underrepresented or marginalized audience that doesn’t often see itself reflected in the media
• 56% of participants identify as a person of colour or as coming from an underrepresented or marginalized background
• The publications will serve audiences in 7 Canadian provinces/territories 
• 14 publications will be run by solopreneurs; 2 will operate as teams of two
• 10 publications haven’t launched yet; 6 are in the process of testing their idea or have very recently launched

Meet the 16 teams in the cohort:

*There are three additional startups not listed below that are remaining in stealth mode for now.

Clearing a New Path

Serving: Dorchester, Ontario

Description: Amplifying the underrepresented voices of women entrepreneurs in rural Canada

Founder: Shauna Rae

From a Coloured Lens

Serving: Vancouver, British Columbia

Description: A podcast designed by and for BIPOC people, allowing them to share how mainstream issues impact their communities

Founder: Ayesha Ghaffar 

Latitodo

Serving: Vancouver, British Columbia

Description: A publication focused on the Latinx diaspora, specifically young adults who are interested in connecting with their heritage whilst adapting to life in Canada.

Founder: Camila Castaneda

Island Edition

Serving: Prince Edward Island

Description: An independent journalism platform to report in-depth on the issues affecting Prince Edward Island, and to share the stories and experiences of the people living in Canada’s smallest province. 

Mabuhay Canada

Serving: Belleville, Ontario

Description: Mabuhay Canada is a one-stop website featuring news, local and international Filipino newsmakers, services, shopping, travel and immigration needs for Filipinos living in Canada

Founder: Yona Harvey

Mostafa

Serving: Vancouver, British Columbia

Description: Online new media focused on bringing newcomer and immigrant points of view to a greater audience

Founder: Seyedmostafa Raziei

North Star Press

Serving: Toronto, Ontario

Description: A magazine/online paper for Black leftists, named North Star Press after Frederick Douglass’ anti slavery newspaper

Founder: Ashleigh-Rae Thomas

Parles-on

Serving: Montreal, Quebec

Description: A bilingual podcast about current events in Canada and beyond

Founder: Cara Fox

South Shore Lines

Serving: Nova Scotia’s South Shore

Description: A rural, alternative digital magazine focused on news, arts, culture, and more for Nova Scotia’s South Shore

Founder: Charles Mandel

Spinning Forward

Serving: Toronto, Ontario

Description: Collectively and collaboratively, we want to build and grow a more inclusive and strong online BIPOC creator community in Toronto on their own terms

Founder: Flavian DeLima

The Flatlander

Serving: Regina, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, Manitoba

Description: An email newsletter about important issues that impact Manitoba and Saskatchewan

Founder: Kelly-Anne Riess

To Be Announced

Serving: Toronto, Ontario

Description: To be announced

Founder: Jordan Maxwell

Twice as Good Media (2G)

Serving: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Description: A hub for compelling narratives and black talent in media

Founder: Sandra Hannebohm

The GNI and LION would like to thank our panel of judges who were instrumental in selecting the cohort. They are: Gina Uppal from the On Canada Project, Colleen Kimmett from the Google News Initiative, Adam Chen from Talk Media, Jordan MacInnis from Journalists for Human Rights, Nkem Kalu from The Northpine Foundation, Julie Sobowale from the Canadian Association of Black Journalists, Sadiya Ansari from Canadian Journalists of Colour and Samanta Krishnapillai from the On Canada Project. 

The post Our third GNI Startups Boot Camp will support 16 Canadian news entrepreneurs appeared first on LION Publishers.

We’re excited to announce the finalists for LION Publishers Local Journalism Awards! In the third year of the LION Awards, which celebrates the best of independent digital media, more than 30 judges evaluated over 240 entries.

Local publishers and news businesses will convene virtually on Nov. 16 at 6:00 p.m. EST as we announce the winners in the categories below, including six new or revamped categories: Community Engagement and Service, General Excellence: Revenue Growth, General Excellence: Operational Resilience, ​​Best (Local) Election/Voting Coverage, Best Coverage of Protest and Movements, and Best Coronavirus Coverage. LION staff will also honor a “Member of the Year,” who has gone above and beyond in supporting fellow members of the LION community.

Certain award categories were determined based on each organization’s full-time equivalent (FTE) staff as of July 2020: solopreneur (0-1 FTE), small publication (2-5 FTE), or medium/large publication (6+ FTE).

You can RSVP for #LIONAwards21 presented by the Google News Initiative here. Interested in learning more about the impactful work of LION members? Tune in to LION’s “One Big Idea” Lightning Talks pre-show event on Nov. 16 at 1:30 p.m. EST to hear five-minute talks about the big idea that changed each presenter’s news business.

The finalists for the LION Publishers Local Journalism Awards are as follows:

• Manchester Ink Link for working with a volunteer advisory board that allowed this solopreneur-run operation to benefit from a collaborative approach to problem solving and idea implementation.
• The Objective for giving its team a three-month publishing break before relaunching in order to take time to rest and focus on developing its business operations.
• Santa Cruz Local for implementing a strategy based on “how and why” statements that became the team’s north star, allowing them to shore up its operational resilience, align the team, reduce burnout and clarify its focus.

• Block Club Chicago for capitalizing on local stories to effectively launch merchandise campaigns to raise revenue. 
• Madison365 for successfully monetizing two podcasts and a daily online video show that began at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• Wausau Pilot & Review for implementing a “Business of the Week” feature — a Q&A post with a local business owner that earned more than $50,000 in annual revenue.

• Asheville Watchdog for its profiles of more than 300 residents who died of COVID-19 during the first year of the pandemic.
• Dallas Free Press for its data-driven coverage of the impact of COVID-19 on local families, and its strong community engagement approach through weekly SMS messaging.
• Grice Connect for filling a gap in local coverage and fostering collaborations with front-line workers to provide accurate, timely COVID-19-related information to their community.

• Enlace Latino NC for its array of COVID-19 coverage serving its Latinx community, including a dedicated section on its website, two podcasts covering the local effects of the pandemic, and incorporating original reporting into its WhatsApp channel and email newsletter.
• The Land and the Northeast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative, for coverage exploring how pandemic rental aid was not reaching the intended recipients, and how a grassroots mutual aid program stepped in to help fill the gaps.
• Local News Matters (Bay City News Foundation) for its free COVID-19 Information Hub that includes stories, data, easy-to-find resources and more.

• Chalkbeat for its Pandemic 360 project, a package of enterprise reporting and narrative writing about Brooklyn’s P.S. 89 and Newark’s Roseville Community Charter School, which was published in both English and Spanish.
• The Oaklandside for its on-the-ground work to reach its audience with its exhaustive COVID-19 vaccination guide — an easy-to-navigate online document that is continually updated and provides answers to critical questions about the vaccine.
• Richland Source for its solutions-focused and community-informed coverage of COVID-19, including a video series called, “Coronavirus Conversations.”

• Block Club Chicago for its free, bilingual COVID-19 hotline that connects people to testing, vaccines, rent relief and other critical information and resources.
• Flint Beat for its three-part series exploring the potential impact of Flint’s policing plan to combat gun violence.
• The Omaha Reader for its project, “The Fight to Change Social Social Studies in Nebraska” which demonstrated how people saw inequities in the state’s education standards and materials, and why they needed to change.
• Wausau Pilot & Review and Madison365 for their collaborative project exploring how the criminal justice system solved issues that emerged in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• CatchLight and The San Francisco Public Press for their project, “Driving Home: Surviving the Housing Crisis,” a year-long visual journalism project looking at the culture of vehicular living and exploring how regulations such as overnight parking bans are affecting vehicle dwellers.
• Block Club Chicago for its “A Year of Loss” project, which marked one year since COVID-19 had come to Chicago and included nearly 30 stories, videos, photos, interactive graphics and a specialty newsletter. 
• Borderless Magazine for its project, “Reclaiming the Sacrifice Zone,” a print and online bilingual comic book documenting the battle of a group of young Latinx organizers against one of Chicago’s most notorious air polluters.

• Berkeleyside for its coverage of a fire that broke out in Berkeley’s downtown, including repeatedly returning to the scene again to let readers know about the status of the street closures and the fire department’s concerted efforts to extinguish the conflagration.
• Block Club Chicago for its coverage of the killing of 13-year-old Adam Toledo by police, including stories that provided context on the officer who killed Toledo, resident reactions and policy changes that were announced by officials in response to the killing.
• The Haitian Times for its coverage of the assassination of the President of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, and the community’s reaction to the assasination, including repurposing its monthly community conversation into a “health check-in” in recognition of the the mental health toll that the crisis was taking on the Haitian community.
• San José Spotlight for its coverage of a mass shooting committed by a VTA transit employee, including 14 hours of non-stop reporting from the field, an in-depth story about each of the nine victims, and investigations into the agency’s systemic failures.

• Block Club Chicago for its impactful collaboration with the Better Government Association to produce a running series of investigative reports that exposed mismanagement and corruption at a local hospital. 
• The Charlotte Ledger for its partnership with the local NPR station (WFAE) and UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute to create Transit Time, a free weekly email newsletter devoted to transit and transportation in Charlotte. 
• Dallas Free Press for its partnership with The Dallas Weekly, which has served the Black community in Dallas since the Civil Rights Era, to work together to serve South Dallas.
• Enlace Latino NC and Southerly Magazine for their partnership to cover — in both English and Spanish — the intersection of environmental issues and economic mobility in Latinx, immigrant and refugee communities in North Carolina.
• The Oaklandside and El Tímpano for their partnership to better amplify the voices and perspectives of Oakalnd’s Latino and Mayan immigrants. 

• El Tímpano for its community-driven reporting, including using SMS technology to power investigations through community engagement and following community-centered approaches to combating misinformation inspired by the “promotoras” model of public health outreach, which is popular in Latin America and Latino communities in the U.S. 
• The Kansas City Beacon for its civic engagement approach to election coverage, which included print and digital multilingual nonpartisan voter safety guides and partnering with community organizations to deliver them to targeted zip codes.
• Sahan Journal for its audience-informed work, including collaborating with non-English language community media outlets like Somali TV Minnesota and 3HmongTV to reach immigrant and refugee communities in their native languages.
• Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service for the collaborative project, News414, which has delivered critical information about issues like rental assistance, COVID-19 and domestic violence to more than 2,400 people via text message.

• Decaturish for uncovering government corruption enabled by a school board, which resulted in the board hiring a private investigator and parting ways with a superintendent.
• Open Vallejo for its reporting on a secretive and corrupt clique of Vallejo police officers called, “Badge of Honor,” and for its investigation into a public official with a long history of domestic violence. 
• Asheville Watchdog for its three-part series about the lack of transparency of a nonprofit hospital’s surprise sale to the giant for-profit Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), and whether the community received fair value for the hospital system it had supported for 133 years.
• This Is Reno for its reporting on the City of Reno’s misuse of COVID-19 federal relief funds to provide therapy to residents, which included reactions from residents and the mental health community.

• Enlace Latino NC for its bilingual investigative series, “Ignored and Forgotten,” which examined how rural Latinx community members in North Carolina experience natural disasters and the gaps in the state’s emergency response system.
• Madison365 for its investigation uncovering physical abuse by Dane County Sheriff’s Deputies of an incarcerated man, Jimmie Joshua.
• Mississippi Free Press for its impactful investigative series examining racism at the University of Mississippi.

• inewsource for exposing the consequences that incarcerated people suffered after the state failed to provide adequate medical care, and for uncovering disturbing conditions at San Diego County quarantine hotels.
• Long Beach Post for its data-driven investigation into the Long Beach Police Department’s racial profiling and the city’s stymied Citizen Police Complaint Commission.
• VTDigger for its investigation into a right-wing militia group that threatened neighbors and operated in violation of state and federal law with impunity.

• Dallas Free Press produces nonprofit journalism that amplifies voices in disinvested Dallas neighborhoods and explores solutions to the city’s systemic inequities.
• Open Vallejo is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom serving the public interest.
• Sioux Falls Simplified cuts through the clutter and delivers the bullet-pointed, bite-sized version of the local news local residents need to stay informed. 

• Block Club Chicago for its reporting on Ida Nelson, a mother fighting to change the rules at her 4-year-old son’s school after it forced her to remove his braids. Ida and her son are Black. The story inspried a state senator to write a bill that would ban anti-Black hair discrimination across the entire state.
• Chalkbeat for its comprehensive coverage on how reopened schools could maintain the airflow needed to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, including creating a searchable database of inspection reports and creating a text-based tool allowing readers to easily look up their school’s information. 
• Long Beach Post for its multifaceted and data-driven investigation into the conduct of the city’s police force toward those it is sworn to protect, including documenting systematic racial profiling by the city’s police force.

• El Tímpano ​​works in collaboration with Oakland residents and community partners to create empowering, two-way channels of information.
• Gettysburg Connection is an online website serving Gettysburg and Adams County residents in Pennsylvania.

• San José Spotlight is the city’s first nonprofit news organization dedicated to independent political and business reporting. 
• Voice of OC is a local nonprofit, non-partisan newsroom located in Orange County, California. 
• Wausau Pilot & Review is an independent, nonprofit newsroom devoted to educating the public about crucial issues in central Wisconsin, with a special focus on public policy and quality-of-life issues.

• Block Club Chicago is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to delivering reliable, nonpartisan and essential coverage of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods.
• The Omaha Reader is Nebraska’s only nationally-recognized alternative news monthly.

• Berkeleyside for its Election 2020 hub featuring coverage of each race and ballot measure, results and more. It published more than 60 stories digging into each race and compiled 30 candidate Q&As so readers knew their options.
• Enlace Latino NC for its extensive election coverage serving its Spanish-speaking audience including a “2020 Elections” website section, an election guide, podcast episodes dedicated to electoral coverage and a voter information campaign called #TuVotoEsPoder. 
• NOWCastSA for its 2021 City of San Antonio Elections coverage including a page that made it possible for voters to easily find answers to complex issues using its ​​“Quick Clips,” which let viewers scroll to the issues most important to them and hear each candidates’ views on the issue in a video.
• VTDigger for its comprehensive and audience-informed Election Guide, a 24/7 liveblog with election updates, live debates between major party candidates and over 200 election stories.

• Block Club Chicago for its sensitive coverage of the police killing of 13-year-old Adam Toledo and the subsequent community protests.
• The Kansas City Beacon for shining a spotlight on the affordable housing crisis and coverage of the unhoused union’s work in the community.  
• Wisconsin Watch for its protestor-focused coverage of the protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

We’d like to give a special thanks to the 2021 judges: Larry Ryckman, Tom Davidson, Sherry Skalko, Zach Baddorf, Lizzy Hazeltine, Conor Crowley, Annelise McGough, Kim Fox, Gonzalo Peon, Erica Beshears Perel, Julia Campbell , Kanya S. Stewart, Kat Duncan, Jeff South, Dana Coester, Virginia Arrigucci, Mark Potts, Anita Varma, Sisi Wei, Fiona Morgan, Tyler Fisher, Shannan Bowen, Annemarie Dooling, Jo Ellen Kaiser, Dylan Smith, Letrell Crittenden, Emily Hilberer, Linda Shaw, Jan Schaffer, Bridget Thoreson, Becca Aaronson, Gunita Singh and Stacey Peters.

We’re grateful to our sponsors who continue to make the 2021 LION Awards and other events possible. Thank you to our Presenting Sponsor, Google News Initiative; our Multiple Awards Sponsor, Broadstreet; and our Single Awards Sponsors, Knight Foundation, American Press Institute, and Solutions Journalism Network. 

Congratulations to all #LIONAwards21 finalists!

The post Meet the 2021 LION Awards Finalists appeared first on LION Publishers.

Status: Full-time

Location: Remote

Salary: $80,000

Benefits: Eligible for benefits.

Job description: 

If you want to work directly with independent news publishers to recruit, train and coach new employees in revenue-generating roles, we want to hear from you.

LION Publishers has evolved into an association serving aspiring and existing news entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Canada, and has helped launch a suite of programs including a boot camp for aspiring news founders, three month-long courses focused on specific skills news entrepreneurs need to develop, a joint effort to seed and support news startups in underserved communities, and, most recently, a program to help existing independent news entrepreneurs with coaching and capital.

Now we’re launching our latest effort: the LION News Revenue Fellowship. This program is focused exclusively on our existing LION member organizations who want to accelerate their revenue. This program, the largest we’ve ever run, will commit $1,000,000 over two years to selected LION member organizations who are ready to design or bolster their revenue strategy.

Through an application process, we will select a group of LION member organizations that will receive up to two years of funding to hire someone who will focus primarily on revenue generation with the goal of making their position self-sustaining at the end of the two years. For our first cohort, we will prioritize news businesses pursuing sustainability through a revenue strategy focused on readers, major donors or advertisers.

Our first step in launching this ambitious program is hiring a News Revenue Coach to advise on the development of The LION News Revenue Fellowship. The coach will also help select, train and coach News Revenue Fellows. As we train more fellows, we also want the News Revenue Coach to document best practices and serve as a resource to our broader LION membership.

Our ideal candidate can demonstrate the following behaviors:

• Passionate about helping independent news organizations achieving sustainability
• Recognizes there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to independent newsroom’s revenue strategies 
• Empathetic and patient about understanding each newsrooms’ needs and excels at supporting people learning new skill sets and operating in new environments.

Our ideal candidate can demonstrate the following skills:

• Is financially literate and business minded, whether you’ve previously held a revenue-generating role or have worked directly with people in revenue-generating roles in newsrooms
• Balances journalistic ethics and business practices in helping newsrooms develop the best revenue-generating strategies
• Translates complex or vague concepts into easily understood teachings for others
• Thinks strategically about the best way to design an at-scale program to train and coach independent news employees in revenue-generating roles

This position is funded for two years, and depending on the success of this program, will become a permanent role on the LION team. You’ll report to deputy director Anika Anand. Submit your application using this form by March 21, 2021. If you have any questions, please email anika@lionpublishers.com.

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LION Publishers encourages applications from diverse backgrounds and underrepresented communities. We desire to build an organization and grow a membership that welcomes and encourages participation from all interested individuals.

The post Apply to be LION’s News Revenue Coach appeared first on LION Publishers.

Cassie Balfour will be that advocate.

Cassie is joining us from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) where she implemented and administered programs supporting journalists from around the globe and has worked on projects focused on media entrepreneurship, digital innovation, training of trainers and misinformation.

During her time at ICFJ, she managed a project that included five full-time fellows working on projects to fight the spread of misinformation in Brazil, Indonesia, India, Nigeria and the United States. As a result of that project, fellows produced new tools to monitor misinformation on social media, reached new audiences in their own communities using local languages, and formed coalitions to more effectively handle misinformation around elections. 

Recently, she helped administer a virtual program for young professional journalists in Brazil to help level up their journalism skills by arranging dozens of webinars on topics such as product in journalism, investigative journalism and media sustainability.

With half of her roots in Michigan and half in Puerto Rico, she lives between the two in Washington, D.C.

Cassie will be the primary liaison between LION and its existing and prospective members. She’ll help recruit new LION members, review prospective member applications, provide existing members with support and resources, share member insights to shape LION’s work and help promote our members’ work. You can reach her at cassandra@lionpublishers.com.

We’re absolutely thrilled for Cassie to join our team and look forward to her help serving our members.

The post Cassie Balfour joins LION as our Membership Programming Manager appeared first on LION Publishers.

The GNI Startups Lab will provide news businesses with:

• A sustainability audit to diagnose financial, journalistic and operational health
• Big picture strategic and in-the-weeds tactical consulting around people, product and profit
• One-on-one coaching to learn, build, and measure a revenue-generating experiment
• A pool of direct funding to enable founders to execute that experiment

How to apply:

Visit this page for a detailed FAQ and criteria on who is eligible to apply for this program. Apply here by January 24 at 11:59 p.m. PT. 

Meet our coaches:

Lillian Ruiz is the founder of Ci-X Strategies, where she has worked with foundations and news outlets on operations, sustainability, and strategy, and brings start-up experience from her time as COO of Civil Foundation and Civil Media. She also sits on the board of the Tiny News Collective.

Why she joined the Startups Lab: I’m excited to work with LION and GNI to support publishers in reaching their goal to inform and support their communities. I’m eager to work with and learn from them, and to help them on the path to long-term success — even if it’s just a small part of their journey.

Lizzy Hazeltine helps teams solve real problems, grow revenue to sustain themselves, and deepen their service of their communities. In her consulting, she applies hard-won lessons from B2B software startups (Shoeboxed), digital local media (ExitEvent, Scalawag), early stage venture capital, and product management to build her clients’ capacity to create and market valuable products that earn them the long-term support of their customers. Hazeltine currently coordinates the NC Local News Lab Fund, coaches teams in the UNC-Knight Table Stakes program, and supports for and non profit organizations in her hometown of Durham, NC. Hazeltine is a proud alumna of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media.

Why she joined the Startups Lab: I don’t know what *doesn’t* excite me about working with these kind news organizations. Independent news businesses combine community demands with the urgency of startups and small businesses in ways that invite industry-blurring approaches. Working at that intersection requires curiosity, keen strategy, and elbow grease, since there’s no one right way to build these organizations. People who choose this path tend to toggle between so many roles and modes, and being around people who lean into that is energizing.

 Brian Boyer is an independent consultant who helps mission-driven organizations build great products and run happy teams. He was previously the VP of Product and People at Spirited Media, and the Visuals Editor at NPR. Prior to NPR, Brian founded the news applications team at Chicago Tribune and had a fun internship at ProPublica. He started his career in software development, and made the switch to journalism as one of the first two programmers to receive a Knight-funded scholarship to study at Medill.

Why he joined the Startups Lab: Four years ago, I quit my fancy national news job, and asked myself: “What’s the most impactful work I can do?” The answer was clear: Ensuring the future of local and independent news, by helping folks build great products and sustainable organizations

Learn more about the GNI Startups Lab from program manager Lisa Heyamoto, and email her at lisa@lionpublishers.com with any questions you have.

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