LION Publishers

What LION Publishers does

LION Publishers (Local Independent Online News) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional association founded in 2012 and headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, operating as the only membership organization dedicated to the business sustainability of local independent online news publishers. As of 2025, LION serves 457+ member organizations representing 481 distinct publications across 48 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 6 Canadian provinces, collectively employing 2,600+ people with a median member revenue of $125,000. Its core product portfolio includes the on-demand self-serve Sustainability Audit (939+ completions across 600+ newsrooms since 2021), the year-long Sustainability 360 coaching program (scaled from 6 to 40 participants in 2025), the News Entrepreneur Academy e-learning platform (18+ courses, 250+ lesson completions), the Slack-based News Entrepreneur Community (1,400+ users), the LION Expert Network, and the annual Independent News Sustainability Summit (500+ attendees). The technology stack is built on a Salesforce-based member portal, with proprietary domain assets including the Stages of Sustainability maturity model and the GNI Startups Playbook co-developed with Google News Initiative. The organization is governed by a volunteer board, led by Executive Director Chris Krewson (a former Billy Penn founding editor), and operates as a distributed workforce of 17 full-time employees across the U.S.

The business model is a hybrid of contributed and earned revenue with a deliberate emphasis on foundation and institutional funding. Contributed revenue ($3.42M in 2025) represents ~71% of total revenue and is led by MacArthur Foundation ($5,015,000 cumulative 2024-2025), Miami Foundation ($1,958,035), Google News Initiative ($1,609,600), Knight Foundation, Press Forward ($1M Infrastructure grant), and Barr Foundation ($265,000). Earned revenue ($1.35M in 2025) is generated through contracts primarily with Google News Initiative for Canada-based work ($678,309, ~15% of total revenue), sponsorships ($286,900, ~6%), investment income on reserves ($195,579, ~4%), membership dues ($101,797, ~2%), and Summit/events ($90,797, ~2%). Membership dues are intentionally set low on a sliding scale of $140-$550 annually, and the Sustainability Audit is provided free to members, reflecting a strategy that prioritizes scale of impact and funder-aligned program delivery over earned-revenue maximization.

Name

LION Publishers

Legal name

Local Independent Online News Publishers, Inc.

Website

https://lionpublishers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

LION Publishers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership association serving 457+ independent local online news publishers across the U.S. and Canada, providing business sustainability audits, coaching, peer community, and advocacy to help small newsrooms build financially viable operations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

News Industry Association Services

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), All Other Publishers (513199)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Creator Publishing & Membership Platforms (Writer-Centric) (MPACAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Author Marketing, PR & Launch Services (Ads, Book Tours, Influencers) (MPAJAJAL)

Keywords

• News industry association
• Independent news membership
• Nonprofit media services
• News sustainability audits
• News entrepreneurship training

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation/Institutional Giving: LION's largest revenue stream, comprising approximately 71% of contributed revenue. Major funders include MacArthur Foundation ($5M+), Google News Initiative ($1.6M), Knight Foundation, Barr Foundation, Democracy Fund, and others. Funding supports organizational infrastructure and program underwrites.
2. Contracts: Earned revenue from contracts, primarily related to work in Canada with the Google News Initiative. Comprises approximately 15% of total revenue ($678,309 in 2025).
3. Sponsorships: Corporate, foundation, and institutional sponsorships supporting events and the annual LION Awards Ceremony. $286,900 in revenue (6.15% of total) in 2025.
4. Membership Dues: Annual dues from 457+ member organizations, ranging from $140-$550 on a sliding scale based on revenue. Comprises approximately 2% of total revenue ($101,797 in 2025). Kept intentionally affordable to avoid membership barriers.
5. Events: Revenue from Independent News Sustainability Summit tickets and regional event registration. $90,797 (1.95% of total) in 2025. Member tickets average $100 for programmed events and $35 for Awards Ceremony.
6. Interest & Investments: Investment income and interest on reserves. $195,579 (4.19% of total) in 2025.
7. Individual Giving: Donations from individual supporters, including board members who contribute or fundraise a minimum of $500 annually. $4,211 (0.1% of contributed revenue) in 2025.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

LION Publishers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional association that serves Local Independent Online News Publishers. Based on the limited source content available, it operates as a membership organization providing association services to independent local online news publishers in the United States.

Product overview

LION Publishers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional association that operates a portfolio of interconnected programs and services centered on helping independent local news publishers build sustainable businesses. Its core offerings include the on-demand Sustainability Audit (a self-serve news business assessment), the year-long Sustainability 360 coaching program, the annual Independent News Sustainability Summit (which hosts the LION Sustainability Awards), and the News Entrepreneur Academy (a members-only e-learning platform with courses and a resource library). Additional products include the Slack-based News Entrepreneur Community, the LION Expert Network for expert matching, the GNI Startups Playbook (created with Google News Initiative), Growth Grants direct funding, Policy & Advocacy representation, and research publications including the annual Sustainability Audit Report and Project Oasis database. These offerings work together as a tiered support system: sustainability assessment (Audit), intensive intervention (Sustainability 360), community and peer learning (Community/Academy), industry visibility (Awards/Summit), expert consultation (Expert Network), and field-level research and policy advocacy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% median revenue increase for publishers completing two Sustainability Audits
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Press ForwardcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Press Forward partnered with LION for a grantee sustainability program, providing support to 205 Press Forward grantees. LION Audits help create comprehensive datasets on small and midsize local news organizations, giving funders clearer insights into publisher needs and progress.
• News Revenue HubcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-produced inaugural Independent News Sustainability Summit in 2022. Continued partnership for event programming and member resources. Both organizations support revenue sustainability for news publishers.
• News Catalyst (Tiny News Collective)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to launch Tiny News Collective with six publishers, providing tools, resources, and training for aspiring news entrepreneurs. Tiny News Collective offers discounted fiscal sponsorship to LION members at 5% of program grants and donations.
• Blue Engine CollaborativemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Sustainability 360 coaching program, providing monthly coaching to Press Forward Closing Coverage Gaps grantees. Supports 206 grantees with coaching through 2026.
• SembraMediaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational nonprofit supporting independent digital media. Natalie Van Hoozer serves as U.S. representative. Global Project Oasis database combined with U.S./Canada Project Oasis in June 2025.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Online News Association (ONA): National professional association for digital journalists and news innovators. ONA overlaps with LION in serving digital-first news leaders through training, an annual conference (ONA25), and awards — but ONA is broader (journalists at any organization) whereas LION is narrowly focused on independent online news business sustainability.
• Institute for Nonprofit News (INN): Network of ~500 nonprofit newsrooms. INN is the closest direct peer: both serve nonprofit/independent news publishers, both offer peer learning, training, and an annual gathering (INN Days vs. LION Summit), and both rely on foundation funding. INN emphasizes editorial collaboration and network content sharing while LION emphasizes business sustainability.
• Local News Association: Industry association serving local newspapers and digital news publishers across the U.S. and Canada. Overlaps directly with LION's member base (local independent news) but historically skews toward legacy newspaper members; LION is the digitally-native counterpart. Both host annual conferences and offer business training for local news.
• American Press Institute (API): Research and training organization supporting local news. LION alumni (Andrew Rockway) led Trusted Elections Network and Local News Ideas-to-Action cohorts at API, signaling direct programmatic overlap. Both offer cohort-based learning and research for local news publishers, though API focuses more on journalism practice and LION on business sustainability.
• Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE): Long-standing professional association for investigative journalists offering training, conferences (NICAR), and awards. Like LION, IRE is a nonprofit membership association serving the journalism field — but IRE emphasizes investigative craft and journalism skills, while LION is focused on independent news business sustainability.

Broad incumbents

• News/Media Alliance: Large trade association (formerly Newspaper Association of America) representing hundreds of news publishers on policy and legal issues including AI and platform compensation. Overlaps with LION's Policy & Advocacy work but is broader (legacy + digital), larger (industry-wide lobbying), and focused primarily on legal/policy rather than business sustainability.

Emerging players

• Report for America: GroundSource-style service organization placing journalists in local newsrooms across underserved U.S. communities. Adjacent to LION's focus on local news sustainability, but operates via talent placement rather than business training/membership model. Both serve similar local news publishers and are foundation-funded.
• Solutions Journalism Network: Nonprofit training network teaching journalists solutions-oriented reporting. LION's Director of Programs (Sarah Gustavus Lim) previously led national initiatives at SJN, illustrating direct programmatic overlap. Both run cohort programs for newsrooms and are foundation-funded; SJN focuses on journalism practice while LION focuses on business sustainability.
• Tiny News Collective: Launched by LION with partner News Catalyst to support aspiring news entrepreneurs through fiscal sponsorship and training. Direct LION subsidiary/partner program; smaller scale and earlier-stage focus on pre-launch founders. Both organizations share staff overlap and now offer discounted fiscal sponsorship to LION members.

Others

• Press Forward: $500M+ funder collaborative investing in local news. Press Forward is a current LION partner (running grantee sustainability programs through LION Audits) and a major funder. As a funder rather than operator, it is an ecosystem enabler rather than a direct competitor — but its direction of capital effectively defines LION's market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LIONPubs
• Facebookfacebook.com/LionPublishers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lionpublishers

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LION Publishers