The Local & Independent News Association (LINA) has launched a free Sustainability Audit for members, helping Australian local and independent news publishers assess their business health, identify opportunities for improvement and focus on the activities most likely to support long-term sustainability.
Developed by US-based LION Publishers and adapted for Australian publishers in partnership with LINA, the Audit provides a practical assessment of a newsroom across three key areas: operational resilience, financial health and journalistic impact, alongside tailored recommendations, resources and industry benchmarks.
LINA’s Executive Director Claire Stuchbery said the Audit would help publishers at any business stage to make more informed decisions about where to focus their time and resources.
“We’ve seen how useful it has been for news publishers in the U.S. and have tailored the Audit to the Australian market to ensure the learnings are relevant and actionable in a territory that sorely needs to strengthen its media diversity,” said Ms Stuchbery.
“The Sustainability Audit helps publishers focus on the fundamentals of news business sustainability: operational resilience, financial health, and journalistic impact. In a world where one can follow any thread, the Audit helps prioritise activities that will have the greatest impact on business stability now and into the future,” she said.
An established tool, adapted for Australia
LION Publishers introduced its Sustainability Audit in 2021 to help independent news businesses better understand their operations, finances and journalism, and has now completed over 1,000 audits of newsrooms across the US and Canada.LION and LINA have updated the assessment, resources and sustainability benchmarks to reflect Australia’s regulatory and operating environment.
LION’s experience shows that taking a closer look at the business can lead to meaningful change:
- News businesses that completed the Audit twice had a 100% median revenue increase as compared to non-audited newsrooms.
- Those that completed it three times had a 220% median revenue increase.
Other results include:
- 66% of news businesses grew their staffing between Audits, by a median of four contributors.
- 1/2 of news businesses saw an increase in monthly web users between Audits.
- 91% of participants said the Audit had, or would have, a positive impact on the sustainability of their news business.
The Sustainability Audit is available free to LINA members. Publishers can complete the questionnaire online and receive a report highlighting their strengths, opportunities for improvement and recommended next steps.