Lenfest launches Local News Infrastructure Fund, $7.25M to boost newsroom technology

To bolster the tech providers out there to native information publishers, the Lenfest Institute for Journalism launched the Lenfest Local News Infrastructure Fund with a $7.25 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Basis.

Beforehand, LION Publishers led the initiative, nevertheless it transitioned to the Lenfest Institute in late 2023.

In keeping with Ken Herts, chief working officer at Lenfest, the Infrastructure Fund goals to assist corporations offering vital know-how infrastructure and providers particularly tailor-made for newsrooms.

He defined that slightly than offering direct assist to newsrooms, the Fund focuses on subsidizing companies and providers that work hand-in-hand with newsrooms to reinforce their technological capabilities and assist backend know-how that spurs income progress and product supply to their viewers.

The Fund’s first beneficiaries embody Newspack, identified for its publishing platform, and BlueLena, identified for its advertising and marketing and digital income providers. Herts mentioned there’s a need to seek out new providers so as to add to the Fund’s roster that assist newsrooms with monetary administration and buyer listening.

Herts emphasised the significance of those technological developments for sustaining native information shops, and he mentioned the hope is that different philanthropists contribute to the Fund to assist increase the attain of the efforts, “Native information publishers must successfully interact audiences and develop digital income streams. The platforms supported by the Lenfest Native Information Infrastructure Fund will empower publishers to just do that.”

Newspack, an all-in-one publishing, monetization and analytics platform, at the moment serves over 250 unbiased native information publishers and can obtain funds to subsidize preliminary prices for transitioning information organizations and offering session on income and viewers progress methods. BlueLena, specializing in driving viewers progress and monetization via know-how administration {and professional} providers, may also proceed to learn from the Fund’s assist.

Herts defined each corporations want exterior assist whereas they construct a full roster of consumers and that the Infrastructure Fund will assist them and different related tasks to maintain their charges reasonably priced till they will scale their operations for sustainability.

In an announcement concerning the mission, Marc Lavallee, program director on the Knight Basis, highlighted the significance of supporting enterprise innovation for publishers of all sizes, “We need to make these know-how options — and extra — out there to publishers of all sizes with out friction. The Fund will function a know-how and enterprise accelerator, dashing the adoption of options which have demonstrated success.”

Sapna Satagopan from CalMatters will be a part of Herts and Lavalle on the Fund’s advisory board to offer steerage on programming and vendor administration and to judge new potential applied sciences and repair suppliers so as to add to this system.

Diane Sylvester is an award-winning 30-year multimedia information veteran. She works as a reporter, editor and newsroom strategist. She might be reached at [email protected]