If you’re in local media, you never really stop learning.
That’s the experience of executives from 19 local news organizations who, as members of Local Media Association’s Family and Independent Media Sustainability Lab, work collaboratively to turn insights into actions that strengthen their operations.
The FIMS Lab assists small-to-midsize local media companies in the United States and Canada that do not have corporate resources to help them. Through regular Lab interactions, peer-to-peer discussions, confidential monthly 1-1 conversations with experienced FIMS Lab coaches, and by conducting experiments using emerging technology, the companies benefit from their multi-faceted Lab participation.
“For our family-owned chain of rural community newspapers, being accepted into the FIMS Lab was like finding a candle and match in a dark cave,” said Jay Nolan, chairman and CEO of Nolan Group Media & J. Frank Publishing, headquartered in London, Ky. “The Lab helped us establish good digital products in all our markets, use technology to expand our impact, and stretch limited resources.
“Now we have a proven, viable plan designed to generate an additional six figures of revenue next year,” Nolan added.
The FIMS Lab is a positive environment that encourages local media publishers to share their successes, collaboratively work through their toughest challenges, and build on best practices, said John M. Humenik, FIMS Lab program director and LMA’s chief strategy and operations officer.
“We have a terrific group of companies in the FIMS Lab,” he said. “By also working with our amazing coaches, who provide decades of leadership experience, strategic vision, and encouragement, the Lab’s participants are producing impactful solutions that have positively changed the trajectory of their organizations.”
FIMS Lab participants have expanded their audiences, strategized local revenue diversification, increased digital sales effectiveness, expanded their knowledge of artificial intelligence and use, advanced multimedia capabilities, launched community events, and increased subscriber revenue by aligning business strategies with market opportunities.
“I’m thrilled to see these teams of all sizes succeed as they benefit from working and learning together,” Humenik said. “I really feel like we’re a team because they do care about helping each other and succeeding together as an industry.”
Backed by support from the Knight Foundation and Google News Initiative, the FIMS Lab assists its participants in identifying, developing, and launching initiatives focused on improving their financial performance and sustainability.
“We’re thankful for the resources of both organizations to conduct the FIMS Lab and realize the variety of impacts that are truly making a difference in the local communities served by the Lab’s participants,” Humenik said.
Regular engagement is a key to the Lab’s success.
Among the many activities in the FIMS Lab, participants attend monthly full Lab calls, conducted virtually, where they engage with LMA staff, leading experts, and each other on topics ranging from digital advertising, reader revenue, branded content, political advertising, reader choice events, emerging technology, digital search, development and use of AI agents in news and sales, journalism funding programs, and more.
“The LMA FIMS Lab reignited what’s possible in local media,” said Clint Schroeder, president and corporate publisher of Hagadone Communications/Hagadone Media & Newspaper Groups. “It’s rare to find an initiative that combines strategic discipline, creative innovation, and measurable impact—but this lab did exactly that. It challenged us to think bigger, act faster, and lead with renewed purpose.”
Schroeder added, “The FIMS Lab was one of the most valuable professional development experiences I’ve had in my media career. It combined practical coaching, accountability, and collaboration with a group of forward-thinking media leaders facing similar challenges.”
The FIMS Lab, which LMA formed in 2023, is now comprised of two groups, including a second group of 10 local media companies added in April 2025 to create a combined 19-member FIMS Lab. Currently, the Lab’s participants are completing their FIMS Lab experiments and recently attended the Local Media Fest in Chicago. In Chicago, they also participated in a FIMS Lab workshop to explore new revenue streams.
During the year, each FIMS Lab company was eligible to receive a $10,000 stipend to conduct an experiment that would bolster their operational sustainability. Later this month, LMA will be sharing cases studies from those experiments.
“Participation in the FIMS Lab has been transformative for our organization,” said Jamie Opalenik, vice president of business development for Ballantine Communications and The Durango Herald in Colorado.
“Through collaboration and knowledge sharing with peers, we were able to test new strategies that directly strengthened our subscription model. As a result, we successfully launched subscriber only content and several targeted promotions that increased digital subscriptions and engagement,” she added.
“The most meaningful impact of the FIMS Lab this year has come from the openness and idea sharing,” Opalenik said.
Collaboration and coaching
FIMS Lab participants collaborate in monthly Lab discussions, strategy building discussions and smaller group learning sessions, LMA conferences, and receive guidance in monthly coaching sessions with the FIMS Lab coaches.
“All of our daily to-do lists are longer than ever. The FIMS Lab has created a welcome exception—space to step back, ask what’s working (and what isn’t). We come away from each session with fresh outside ideas that are helping us build a real path forward,” said Nathan Alford, editor and publisher of the Lewiston Tribune in Idaho.
The 60-minute coaching calls, conducted virtually, explore the most challenging issues impacting each FIMS Lab company’s current financial performance and overall operational sustainability. Brainstorming new revenue streams also makes the calls engaging and productive.
The FIMS Lab coaches have extensive media leadership and operational experience. “That’s a real advantage for the Lab’s participants. They can get not one but multiple viewpoints to consider, plus they have each other to learn from in real time during full cohort calls,” Humenik explained.
“The coaching sessions are the foundation of the FIMS Lab experience and the FIMS Lab mission of driving sustainability,” he added. “They get focused attention from the coaches on navigating tough challenges. While the challenges take time to work on, we also leave time to celebrate their wins. And there are plenty of wins.”
Before joining LMA, Humenik was chief content officer and vice president for news at Lee Enterprises. He also is a former president and publisher of the Arizona Daily Star (Tucson) and the Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), and a former LMA board chair.
In addition to Humenik, FIMS Lab coaches are Judi Terzotis, CEO of Georges Media Group, an LMA executive-in-residence and former LMA board member, and Liz White Notarangelo, a consultant, former co-CEO of LMA, and a former 5th generation family owner, publisher, executive vice president of the Record-Journal Media Group in Connecticut.
“I honestly look forward to every coaching call,” Terzotis said. “The FIMS publishers inspire me with their creativity, resilience, and willingness to try new approaches. It’s been a privilege to help them think through strategic issues, tackle challenges, and develop ideas that can help their businesses grow. I always come away from those conversations energized.”
White Notarangelo agrees. “It’s so inspiring to coach the incredible FIMS teams. Their innovative and collaborative mindsets position them for success as they navigate the challenges of the industry,” she said. “Every conversation leaves me excited to see what they’ll do next.”
Strategic plan reviews and goal setting with the Lab’s coaches also provide the FIMS Lab participants with feedback and insights that help them fine tune revenue and operational strategies while also responding to changes in the industry.
“They’re not shy about reaching out to each other or us when they need help. Plus, we are thrilled when we can connect several of them together around an idea that will positively change their revenue or audience trajectories,” Humenik explained.
A FIMS Lab financial performance benchmarking initiative, which was developed in 2025 and tested, is expected to play a larger role in the Lab going forward as will executing a series of revenue-focused initiatives in smaller groups.
Jay Horton, president for digital media at WEHCO Media, Inc. said he enjoys the positive and productive nature of the Lab.
“The experience of the FIMS Lab has been enlightening and encouraging,” Horton said. “The instruction from the mentors has been very helpful, though the interaction and the idea sharing between the members has had tremendous value.”
“When we were in person, the programming was formatted in a way that made the most of the time and generated great value for us, and all the participants.” he continued.
The monthly coaching calls usually include members of the Lab participants’ leadership teams. Follow-up calls or small group discussions are normal, as well, especially as more than one organization is wrestling with the same set of challenges.
“FIMS Lab has been one of the most rewarding professional experiences of my career. The program has connected me with an incredible network of peers who are equally passionate about the future of local media,” said David Cook, publisher of the Aspen Daily News.
“Each session has sparked new ideas, inspired actionable business practices, and helped me elevate our organization in meaningful ways,” Cook added. “The LMA team runs an engaging, forward-thinking program that empowers publishers to innovate, collaborate, and grow. I’m deeply grateful to be part of this community.”
FIMS Lab experiments
A Lab stipend of up to $10,000 provides each FIMS Lab company with resources to experiment and advance initiatives that align with their overarching strategic plans, capitalize on market opportunities, or help them accomplish their FIMS Lab goals.
Many of the experiments have been completed while some of the more complex experiments are expected to be completed in the next couple of months.
“The experiments are definitely not your usual tactics,” Humenik explained. “The experiments are attempting to answer some of the toughest questions in our industry about driving revenue and expanding print and digital audiences. They also include the use of emerging technology, and there’s always a learning curve with that.”
Some of the FIMS Lab experiments include: Testing the impact of personalized text messaging to reduce subscriber churn, personalized audio news experience using AI text-to-audio, development of automated local real estate content, AI-powered digital town squares to inform and engage audiences, shared multimedia storytelling hub and podcast content, innovative digital presentations and advertising of summer camp guide information, a comprehensive reader revenue strategy, and a weekly video program that highlights community news and builds a subscriber audience.
Additionally, five FIMS Lab companies and LMA are experimenting with interactive video working with Light Touch Media Group. For example, The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C. used a series of interactive videos to drive the successful launch of an engaging tourism website and magazine titled South Carolina Travel (sctravels.com).
FIMS Lab impacts
Lab successes have included participants sharing and building upon each other’s best practices, including digital revenue and audience growth initiatives, and the effective use of AI in exploring new ways to create efficiencies.
“Stronger strategic and operational plans have resulted because of the participants’ access to each other’s best ideas and expertise, including access to each other’s leadership teams, learnings, and digital capabilities,” Humenik noted.
Other impacts in the FIMS Lab include refining existing strategies to expand audience membership support, expanding digital product portfolios, like video, reevaluating revenue models, and exploring business transformation that reduces costs through efficiencies.
“The FIMS Lab experience was fantastic,” said Bruce Potter, publisher of InsideNoVa. “The opportunity to learn from peers and experts across the industry was unmatched. And the one-on-one coaching was extremely helpful and kept us on track, not only with our experiment but also with our other initiatives.
“And we would not have been able to do our experiment without the financial support provided through the lab.”
Lab participants also can ask each other questions, responding to Lab surveys about industry challenges and new revenue opportunities. “They share their insights and feedback along the way. That’s my favorite part of the Lab,” Humenik said.
“The FIMS Lab has been a tremendous value to us: discussing strategy, learning specific tactics, building out a valuable network,” said Jon Rust, publisher of the Southeast Missourian and president of Rust Communications. “We no longer look at many participants as simply peers. We have become friends. It’s a powerful, helpful group.”
FIMS Lab members
• Anchorage Daily News
• Aspen Daily News
• Ballantine Communications
• Georges Media Group
• Great West Media (Alberta, Canada)
• Hagadone Communications/Hagadone Media & Newspaper Groups
• Rappahannock Media (InsideNoVa)
• The Gazette (Janesville, WI)
• KHQ, Inc.
• Maine Trust for Local News
• Nolan Group Media
• Post and Courier
• Rust Communications (Southeast Missourian)
• Shaw Media
• The Day
• The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
• Lewiston Tribune
• WEHCO Media, Inc.
• Wick Communications
Websites links to some of the FIMS Lab experiments:
https://www.lmtribune.com/tags/the-trib-repot
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