As Tiny News Collective expands with more member newsrooms, so does the recognition they are receiving in the wider local news world. Last year, four TNC members were finalists for LION Sustainability Awards, and this year that number is up to nine members! It’s inspiring to see so many of our members making a difference in their communities, strengthening their businesses and being recognized as leaders in the field.

Oxford Free Press is a finalist for LION Business of the Year in the Micro/Small Revenue Tier, recognized for diversifying revenue since its 2024 launch through donors, grants and growing ad sales. The Free Press has built a diversified funding base since its June 2024 launch, pulling in more than $210,000 in donor contributions, including support from INN's NewsMatch program, plus $164,000 from more than 600 individual donors and $23,000 in advertising revenue in 2025. It has also secured grant funding, along with donated office space and internship support. 

COYOTE Media Collective and La Conner Community News are finalists for New LION Business of the Year. COYOTE is a worker-owned Bay Area outlet that launched in September 2025 after raising $150,000, publishing membership-supported alt-weekly style narrative features, opinion and arts coverage. La Conner Community News stepped in after the Washington town's 145-year-old paper closed, restoring coverage within weeks. In its first year it built a hybrid nonprofit/for-profit model, reached 6,000 monthly users with newsletter open rates around 70%, and laid out a sustainability plan built on membership, tourism products and fiscal sponsorship of other outlets.

Here is the full list of 2026 LION Sustainability Awards finalists, and here is a breakdown of who else we are rooting for to bring home the hardware:

• Crosswinds News is a finalist for both the Operational Resilience Award and the Community Engagement Award, Micro/Small Revenue Tier, for staff well-being practices and a listening tour across Northeast Oklahoma reservations.
• Mat-Su Sentinel is a finalist for the Financial Health Award in the Micro/Small Revenue Tier, having grown from modest seed funding to seven diversified revenue streams since 2024.

• Caribbean Television Network is a finalist for the Community Engagement Award in the Micro/Small Revenue Tier for multilingual service journalism guiding the Haitian diaspora through immigration uncertainty.
• Tucson Spotlight is a finalist for Collaboration of the Year in the Micro/Small Revenue Tier, honored for partnerships that extend its reach into underserved communities.
• Ethiopique is a finalist for Product of the Year in the Micro/Small Revenue Tier, for turning community gatherings into a repeatable journalism and sponsorship-revenue model.
• Claudia Amaro of Planeta Venus is a finalist for Community Member of the Year, recognized for supporting fellow news entrepreneurs across the Spanish-language news ecosystem.

Congratulations to all of this year's finalists! We're proud to see so much of the Tiny News community represented. Winners will be revealed live at the LION Awards Show at the Independent News Sustainability Summit in San Diego on September 9. Fingers crossed! 🤞