Shaw Media one of 12 family-owned, independent local media companies to join LMA’s new sustainability lab

Local Media Association has selected 12 local media companies — including Shaw Media — to join the new Family and Independent Media Sustainability Lab — FIMS Lab for short — aimed at finding paths to sustainability for family-owned and independent local media organizations.

Thanks to funding from Google News Initiative, a team of expert consultants will work for one year with key leaders of 12 family-owned and independent local media companies — representing news outlets across five time zones — immersing in strategic business transformation work intended to advance them toward long-term sustainability and financial independence.

The FIMS Lab is an offshoot of the Knight x LMA BloomLab, which is focused on technology and business transformation for 26 Black-owned local media companies. The early results from that lab have been game-changing for the first cohort of publishers. The FIMS Lab represents an opportunity to take the BloomLab learnings and expand to other family and independent media organizations across the country.

Read full announcement on LocalMedia.org.