Cardinal News was honored Wednesday with special recognition as a sustaining news business by LION Publishers at the group’s Independent News Sustainability Summit in San Diego.
LION Publishers, founded in 2012 as a professional association for local independent news publishers, has more than 450 American and Canadian members. The LION name stands for Local Independent Online News and includes among its members both for-profit and nonprofit news ventures.
At the culmination of Wednesday’s event, LION’s executive director, Chris Krewson, offered special acknowledgment to 11 members in the sustaining stage of LION’s updated audit maturity model. In addition to Cardinal, they were Bridge Michigan, Connecticut Mirror, Fort Worth Report, San Jose Spotlight, Technical.ly, The Baltimore Banner, The Daily Memphian, The Nevada Independent, The Salt Lake Tribune and VTDigger.
“Based on the hundreds of organizations we’ve worked with over the last six years, sustaining news businesses have built foundational and mission-critical operational and financial infrastructure, and we can’t wait to share more about these organizations’ successes,” LION said in a news release.
Cardinal last year was named business of the year by the group.
“We are honored to be among this elite group of the country’s leading independent news organizations in rebuilding local news in a sustainable way,” Cardinal co-founder and Executive Director Luanne Rife said of this week’s recognition. “Credit goes to Cardinal’s awesome team and to our many community members who value local news and invest in our nonprofit organization.”
Zachary Shelton, Cardinal’s audience growth and acquisition manager, was on hand for this year’s summit.
Cardinal was founded in 2021 and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, serving Southwest and Southside Virginia. It began with an editor and two reporters and now has 30 employees. Cardinal is funded by a mix of donations, grants and sponsorships. The news outlet is marking its fifth anniversary this month.
