Canada Oasis Survey 2023

LION Publishers is a U.S.-based membership association that works to strengthen the local news industry by helping independent news publishers build more sustainable businesses.

The purpose of this survey is two-fold: We want to include more independent Canadian news publishers in our Project Oasis database, and we want to learn more about your needs as an independent news publisher.

LION has about two dozen members based in Canada, but is considering a more formal expansion that would increase the membership resources and benefits for Canadian publishers. Learn more about our research efforts.

Thank you in advance for making the time to tell us about your news publication.




Are you a current LION Member?
Yes
No
Please choose an answer
What is the name of your publication? 

This question is required

First, please tell us a little about yourself and your organization.
All of the answers to questions in this section will be published publicly in our Project Oasis database.



What is the URL of your publication?
If you don't publish a website, please provide a URL where we can learn more about your project

Please enter a valid URL
If you don't publish a website, please provide a URL where we can learn more about your project
What is the primary contact email for the organization?
Please enter a valid email
What is the first and last name of the owner of the publication?
This question is required
Please provide a short summary of what your publication does or its mission statement. 
Please limit your response to 1–3 sentences.
This question is required
Please limit your response to 1–3 sentences.
What city is your publication based in?
This question is required
What province is your publication based in?
AB
BC
MB
NB
NL
NS
NT
NU
ON
PE
QC
SK
YT
This question is required
What year was your publication founded?
This question is required
What is your current tax status?
Sole proprietor/no specific tax status
LLC
Canadian nonprofit
Registered journalism organization or charity
I don’t know
Other
This question is required
What language do you primarily publish in?
English
French
Other
This question is required
How many full-time employees do you currently employ?
This question is required
Is the founder of the publication still directly involved?
Yes
No
Please choose an answer

We’d like to learn a little bit more about your leadership team.
All of the following questions are optional and will not be published as part of your Project Oasis profile. We may share this information as part of aggregated data in a final report.


Are you in a leadership position at your organization?
We define “leadership” at an organization as individuals with any of the following titles: CEO/Executive Director/Founder/Publisher/Editor/Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer

Yes
No
We define “leadership” at an organization as individuals with any of the following titles: CEO/Executive Director/Founder/Publisher/Editor/Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer
What is your title/position?
Do you or anyone in your organization’s leadership identify as any of the following? 
Please select all that apply

LGBTQ+
Immigrant or Refugee
From a rural community
Have a disability
From another historically marginalized or underrepresented group in independent news
None of these identities apply to our organization’s leadership
Please select all that apply
Please provide how many people on your leadership team identify as the following gender identities:
Female
Male
Nonbinary/Nonconforming
Agender
Other
Please provide how many people on your leadership team identify as the following racial/ethnic identities:

Asian
Black
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

Indigenous/First Nations/Metis

Latin American/Hispanic
Middle Eastern/North African

White
Other

We’d love to learn a bit more about who your publication serves.
All of the following questions are optional and would be published as part of your Project Oasis profile.

What is your editorial strategy?
Select all that apply.
Single-subject news
Investigative news
Curation and commentary
Hyperlocal community comings and goings
In-depth feature and explanatory reporting
Select all that apply.
What topics does your publication cover?
Select all that apply.
Business
Corruption
Crime & justice
Education & schools
Entertainment & arts
Environment
Energy
Events in coverage area
Food
Gender identity
Government
Health & medicine
Immigration
National Security
Planning & development
Politics
Race & ethnicity
Religion
Social justice & inequality
Sports & recreation
Transportation
Select all that apply.
Do you aim to primarily serve any of these communities as part of your editorial strategy or coverage? For example, is it listed in your mission statement and/or about page to serve any of the following underrepresented communities?
Select all that apply.
Communities with English as a second language
Ethnic communities
Immigrant communities
LGBTQ+ communities
Low-income communities
People of color
Select all that apply.
What geographic area do you serve?
Select all that apply.
Neighborhood(s)
City/town
County/counties/regional districts
State/Province
Multi-state/multi-province
National/international
Select all that apply.
What products do you produce?
Select all that apply.
Originally-reported articles (including text, photos or data)
Video
Podcasts
Newsletters
Printed Media
Social media-only content (not solely distribution or aggregation)
Digital marketing services
Events
Select all that apply.

We’d love to learn a bit more about the business side of your publication.
The following questions are optional and would be published as part of your Project Oasis profile.

What revenue stream is your largest?
Direct sold advertising
Programmatic advertising
Classifieds (e.g. paid publication space for press releases, obituaries, event listings)
Reader membership (e.g. monetizing the relationship with the news organization)
Reader subscriptions (e.g. monetizing access to the content)
Foundation funding
Small individual gifts (<$1,000; this could include reader donations or contributions)
Major individual gifts (>$1,000; from individuals who are not giving money on behalf of an entity)
Philanthropic funding from major institutions (e.g. foundations, corporate donations)
Other forms of corporate sponsorship (e.g. sponsored newsletters)
Events
Haven’t generated revenue yet, but intend to do so
Don't intend to make revenue
What revenue streams make up 20% or more of your revenue?

Select all that apply.
Direct sold advertising
Programmatic advertising
Classifieds (e.g. paid publication space for press releases, obituaries, event listings)
Reader membership (e.g. monetizing the relationship with the news organization)
Reader subscriptions (e.g. monetizing access to the content)
Foundation funding
Small individual gifts (<$1,000; this could include reader donations or contributions)
Major individual gifts (>$1,000; from individuals who are not giving money on behalf of an entity)
Philanthropic funding from major institutions (e.g. foundations, corporate donations)
Other forms of corporate sponsorship (e.g. sponsored newsletters)
Events
Haven’t generated revenue yet, but intend to do so
Don't intend to make revenue
Select all that apply.
The following questions are optional and will not be published as part of your Project Oasis profile. We may share this information as part of aggregated data in a final report.

What was your 2022 total annual budget? 

Which of the following descriptions best represents your organization’s stage of sustainability? 
Ideation: You are developing a concept for a news business.
Preparation: You are beginning to implement a minimum viable product (MVP) for a news business.
Building: You are expanding your editorial offerings based on audience and market research while building a foundation for revenue and operations.
Maintaining: You have had some journalistic impact and are developing your target audience, but are still seeking operational and financial stability.
Poised for Growth: You have a clear target audience and your revenue and operations are stable. You have the internal capacity to do the work you’ve committed to in service of your organizational goals and mission.
Growing: You are enhancing your editorial offerings to reach new audiences. Revenue is growing and you are building your team.
Scaling: You have a stable audience and revenue base and are pursuing significant new revenue streams or audiences.
Sustaining: You have achieved revenue stability across multiple streams, are having consistent journalistic impact, and have sustainable workloads and compensation for staff and contributors.

We’d love to learn about your needs as a publisher and how LION might be able to support your work.
These questions are optional. If you choose to fill them out, we may follow up to learn more. We will email you for permission if we want to quote you publicly in any of our final reports.

What type of support would you benefit most from as an independent news publisher? 

Community: Connecting with fellow news business founders in Canada and the U.S.
Education and Events: Access to training programs and events focused on how to run a sustainable news business
Recognition: Your work being nationally recognized through an Awards program and regular communications, i.e. social media and newsletters
Support: Access to support from platforms, such as Google or Facebook, tech tools and operational support like media liability insurance
Funding: Receiving direct financial support via a training program or learning about other funding opportunities
Other
What are your primary strategic challenges?
Rank your top 3, with 1 being most critical
 Getting out of a rut
 Getting out of the day-to-day and seeing the big picture
 Figuring out how to strategically grow revenue
 Figuring out how to strategically grow my team
 Setting priorities
 Managing current or future growth
 Better supporting myself and my team
 Learning more about who my audience is and what they want
 Rethinking my organizational structure
 Aligning my editorial efforts with my revenue growth
 Other
Rank your top 3, with 1 being most critical
How do you define sustainability for your news organization? What does it look like to be a sustainable news business? 
LION wants to better understand Canadian publishers’ need for French language resources. What resources, if any, would you need to access in French in order to best take advantage of LION’s offerings?
Do you have any other ideas or feedback to share with us as we continue to explore a potential LION expansion into Canada?
Submit