Local & Independent News Association (LINA) media release: 2 April 2025
Local and independent news publishers from across Australia are gathering in Melbourne this week for the third annual LINA Summit.
The three-day event brings together over 150 delegates from across the country, representing news-making organisations and industry leaders and stakeholders. It comes amid turbulent times for the news industry.
While the government's answer to Meta's withdrawal from the News Media Bargaining Code was announced in December, consultation on the News Bargaining Incentive recently stalled reportedly due to fears of Trump retaliation tariffs. The upcoming federal election adds further funding uncertainty to the industry already in crisis, as the wait continues for the roll-out of funds announced via the News Media Assistance Program (News MAP) in December.
LINA's Summit program (and other ongoing projects) will attempt to quell newsroom closures by offering news publishers capacity-building training and workshops across 50 different sessions. Topics covered include building audience relationships, preparing election explainers, ethics in reporting, AI tools, news publishing and big tech in media policy, improving accessibility in news, newsletter strategies and revenue growth ideas.
The conference kicks off today with intensive practical workshops on implementing advertising, developing multi-media content and industry development, followed by a welcome event in Footscray this evening.
LINA Executive Director Claire Stuchbery said the Summit, which is co-hosted by local news service The Westsider, is also an opportunity for publishers to connect with one another and share insights.
"LINA has grown from representing 100 newsrooms this time last year, to now over 160. This change reflects promising growth in the industry despite a challenging year," Claire said.
"Many of the factors which have constrained newsrooms' capacity and financial sustainability are also ironically exactly the issues that we need quality news organisations to cover and scrutinise—including changes to the social media landscape, AI and big tech, rising misinformation and disinformation and political developments.
"It's critical that we support both emerging and established newsrooms to continue producing public interest journalism during election periods, during emergency response and recovery and in amplifying the stories that matter to the communities our member publishers serve."
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.