Australia’s local and independent publishers gather in South Australia for national conference

Local and independent publishers from across Australia are in Murray Bridge, South Australia this week for the Local and Independent News Association (LINA)’s three-day annual Summit. 

LINA’s Summit program equips local newsrooms to tackle key issues facing their industry, including community building, and sustainable scaling for small publishers, emerging technologies and storytelling techniques.

LINA Executive Director Claire Stuchbery said the Summit, which is co-hosted by local news service Murray Bridge News, is also a chance for publishers from across the country to meet in-person and share advice and insights.

“While deeply embedded in their local communities, being an independent news publisher can be a challenging job. Some of our members are the only journalists reporting in their area,” Stuchbery said. 

“One of LINA’s key roles is to help provide a network of support for people working in isolation to serve their communities. This is partly through the services we offer; tech support, legal advice, revenue growth programs, templates and training, and so on, but also facilitating opportunities like this for publishers to gather and connect with each other.” 

LINA welcomed its first member newsroom in 2022, and now supports over 170 news publishers across Australia. 

The annual conference kicked off yesterday with intensive practical workshops on impact-driven scaling, revenue ready newsletters and video journalism, followed by a welcome dinner on the Murray River.

Murray Bridge News managing editor Peri Strathearn said he was excited about hosting a top-level industry gathering in the community, just six years after he launched his publication during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The LINA summit is always my favourite week of the year: a time to network with amazing people, swap knowledge and feel supported in what can be a challenging operating environment,” he said.

“I hope LINA members will come away from these few days refreshed, full of enthusiasm and ready to implement what they’ve learned at their own publications around Australia.” 

Topics covered throughout the three day event will include working with content creators, the role of news in civics and democracy, choosing a not-for-profit business structure, reporting before, during and after emergencies, how to pitch advertising, and much more. 

The event welcomes international speakers too, including US-based David Grant from Blue Engine Collaborative sharing learnings on growth gathered from working with hundreds of newsrooms across the globe.

Beyond fostering industry collaboration, LINA’s annual Summit sets the agenda for the industry association’s work moving forward, with a focus on practical support for newsrooms and building awareness of the contribution journalism makes in communities.

About LINA

The Local & Independent News Association (LINA) is a not-for-profit national industry association representing 170+ digital, local and independent newsrooms. LINA's mission is to increase the diversity and relevance of news services in communities across Australia by providing new and existing independent digital news services with capacity-building support, expert advice, access to critical third-party services, and more.

For more information about LINA and its initiatives, visit lina.org.au