Hi there!
LINA’s first staff member started work on 1st July 2022, so this week marks the end of our first year in operation. We’ve been reflecting on our time with the wonderful publishers we’ve come to know, and the sense of community we’ve begun to build around hyperlocal news together.
Some of the actions LINA has undertaken during the year include:
- Defined our membership eligibility and editorial standards requirements
- Grew our membership group from 0 to 62 publishers (and counting)
- Expanded our Board to seven Directors, including three active news publishers
- Hosted 15 ‘shop-talk’ sessions with guest speakers on topics for newsrooms
- Brought 86 delegates together for our inaugural national Summit
- Created discount partnerships for software, design, insurance, and complaints handling
- Produced useful templates for members to customise such as media kits, policies, and leadership skills matrix documentation
- Made five submissions to inquiries and consultations on media-related policy, and represented small publishers in a range of policy forums
- Launched our impact tracking pilot group (watch this space)
- Collated and distilled a wide range of training and resource opportunities for members, including customised training opportunities through the Google News Initiative and other learning partners
- Established relationships with government, stakeholders and suppliers to provide holistic support to members
Through all this work, our focus is always on strengthening public interest journalism, providing capacity building support, networking and shared services.
We are really proud of the community of public interest news publishers we’re bringing together who learn and share and support each other every day through our communication channels. In 2023-24 we’ll be expanding our small team (up from two) and our support programs, and we hope to keep working with you as our activities progress. Oh, and mark 30 April – 2 May on your calendar for our 2024 Summit in Port Douglas – more to come!
The just-released report from the University of Canberra’s News and Media Research Centre also reveals that interest in news has fallen, particularly among women.
News services need higher visibility of their editorial
Claire Stuchbery, Digital News Report 2023
independence and verification processes to reassure
audiences; and financial support to produce high-quality
public interest journalism without fear or favour.
This week members were able to hear about the Digital News Report 2023 directly from Dr Kieran McGuinness (University of Canberra) at our fortnightly Shop-Talk session. LINA also contributed to the report this year, commenting on trust in news and the importance of local reporting. Read more.
A group of LINA members recently completed the Google News Initiative NCI Shift program, assessing their websites against a range of engagement metrics and benchmarks to make sure they were reaching their target audiences.
We’re growing our team, with a range of roles open for application! Feel free to share to your networks.
See all roles available here.
 medianet.com.au #MeetTheMedia is designed to bring the decision-makers of media together with the experts and leaders of industry to better understand each other. |
 events.humanitix.com The 2023 Women in Media National Conference will be held in Sydney on September 8-9, featuring keynote speaker Ita Buttrose AC OBE and a lineup of experienced media professionals. The conference provides a platform for female media professionals to engage in honest discussions, exchange ideas, and address career-related challenges. |
 blogs.lse.ac.uk Over the last few months, newsrooms and media organisations from around the world have been completing the second iteration of our JournalismAI survey… Read more. |
 youtube.com Hear from nonprofit news funders and philanthropic leaders on different strategies for investing in nonprofit journalism. Through engaging discussions, they … Read more. |
 Congratulations to Bob Burton on winning the MEAA Best Freelance Journalist award at the Tasmanian Media Awards for his stories in Tasmanian Inquirer 👏👏👏 Read more. |
 We’re excited to shout out Local News Publications who welcomed four new staff members recently, including three new journalists! Read more. |
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