The Challenge for ‘Indie’ News Sites: Monetizing Highly Engaged Audiences

When they met at their recent Chicago convention, independent community publishers and editors talked a lot about what might be called “reve-news.” On everybody’s mind at the Local Independent Online Newspaper (LION) Publishers’ annual meeting was how to monetize news. 

Even obituaries can be monetized, said one speaker, prominent “indie” publisher Steve Waldman, who is readying the launch of LifePosts, which will chronicle not only paid obits but also weddings and other celebrations and commemorations that will be published for a price.