{"id":218716,"date":"2024-01-31T13:09:47","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T18:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lionpublishers.com\/?p=218716"},"modified":"2024-01-31T13:11:02","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T18:11:02","slug":"we-more-than-doubled-the-number-of-news-organizations-in-our-project-oasis-database-heres-what-we-learned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lionpublishers.com\/we-more-than-doubled-the-number-of-news-organizations-in-our-project-oasis-database-heres-what-we-learned\/","title":{"rendered":"We more than doubled the number of news organizations in our Project Oasis database. Here\u2019s what we learned."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We\u2019ve identified an additional 368 independent local news businesses across the United States to add to our Project Oasis database<\/a>, the most comprehensive database of all independent local news businesses in the U.S. That brings our total count of independent local news publications across the U.S. and Canada to 1,601 \u2014 more than doubling the number of organizations since we first launched the database in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we continue to add publications to the database based on new members who apply for a LION membership and remove publications that have shuttered, we also recognize that many independent local news businesses are not being counted because they don\u2019t know about us, and we don\u2019t know about them. So last year, we recruited community ambassadors<\/a>, 24 independent news leaders from 21 regions across the United States, who helped us identify publications in their geographic area that met our criteria<\/a> and weren\u2019t in our Oasis database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These community ambassadors used their networks to surface organizations and combed through databases like the CUNY Center for Community Media\u2019s Black<\/a> and Latino<\/a> media directories. They then contacted these newsrooms and asked them to share more in-depth information about their newsrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 368 news businesses that ambassadors identified, 132 shared more details with us about their publication history, content, staff size, and the tech platforms and mediums they use. This in-depth information was included in their Project Oasis profile and helps us better understand the state of independent newsrooms today. We also created profiles for the remaining 237 organizations, including their location, tax status, and publication language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what we learned from this project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building relationships with news leaders who have existing connections is key.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When we set out to update the Project Oasis database, we knew we wanted to work closely with independent journalists who had strong connections in their communities. They know more about what\u2019s happening in their local news landscapes than we do because they live and work there and have existing relationships with others in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That proved crucial to the project\u2019s success. Ambassadors surfaced many newly launched publications and, more notably, identified many older publications that were initially overlooked by Project Oasis researchers in 2020, including 15 Spanish-language news organizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In particular, we were able to add a large number of publications based in the Mid-Atlantic region of New Jersey, New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, as well as in Colorado and Missouri. Submissions from those six states made up a whopping 35 percent of all the organizations added to Project Oasis. That speaks, in part, to the hard work of the ambassadors in those regions<\/a> and the deep networks they have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The direct outreach conducted by our community ambassadors is critical for building our field\u2019s understanding of the needs of the independent news ecosystem. It also ensures we\u2019re being inclusive in offering our services and support to those interested in taking advantage of and benefiting from LION and other journalism-support organizations\u2019 offerings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the independent news field grows, we have to carefully consider our criteria for what independent local news is.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the project, one question arose often: Does this count as an independent local news organization? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our ambassadors had robust conversations about the criteria for a Project Oasis organization, and that spurred conversation among LION staff about our membership criteria and how to define local independent online news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The criteria for inclusion in Project Oasis is: <\/p>\n\n\n\n