The 2024 LINA Summit promises to be an enriching multi-day event bringing members and stakeholders together in picturesque Port Douglas. Offering a blend of professional development and networking, this gathering is designed to foster connections among LINA members, allowing for the exchange of stories and strategies in a collaborative atmosphere. LINA is excited to make the most of this time to equip members with innovative skills and actionable insights that you can apply within your newsrooms. Engage in hands-on workshops and join the dialogue on policy evolution in the realm of public interest journalism—your perspectives are, as always, invaluable.
Presented by the Local & Independent News Association, with our local partner Newsport
Agenda
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
A hands-on Impact Tracking workshop with Rosemary D'Amour from Impact Architects. Walk in with a vague idea, walk out with a functioning impact dashboard for your newsroom. Limited places.
This workshop will cover how to introduce native content as a income stream for local news businesses, with Luke Spano, Managing Director of Avid Collective. Limited places.
4:30 PM - 5:45 PM
4:30 PM - 5:45 PM
Registration
Pick up your lanyard and get the lay of the land for the days ahead.
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Kick off the conference by catching up with friends and making new ones as we sit down for a welcome dinner at Zinc.
8:15 AM - 8:45 AM
8:15 AM - 8:45 AM
Registration
Grab your lanyard and your coffee and settle in for a big day ahead!
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Chair of the Kubirriwarra Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation, John Hartley will welcome delegates to Yirrganydji Country on the lawns of the Port Douglas Community Hall.
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Welcome from our co-hosts, Newsport
Introduction to the Newsport & LINA teams
Video presentation from the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, Minister for Communications
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Author of The Digital Guide, Tracy Sheen helps empower small businesses with AI and digital tools. At the LINA Summit she will speak to useful integrations of AI in small newsrooms and where to start.
10:00 AM - 10:05 AM
10:00 AM - 10:05 AM
Lightning Activity
10:05 AM - 10:30 AM
10:05 AM - 10:30 AM
MORNING TEA BREAK
10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Bring your laptop and your Canva Pro login to this hands-on session. Tracy Sheen will demonstrate how magic AI functions in Canva can be used to efficiently create well-designed social media tiles.
An overview on copyright licensing as possible revenue stream. This session will explain media monitoring licenses, share research on the use of news publishing content by business, and answer questions on emerging copyright issues.
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
Hey Siri - what’s news? Learn how to make your headlines discoverable to smart speakers and get pointers on the application process for submitting your news briefings to have your stories served to relevant audiences via smartphones.
A discussion on building and maintaining audience trust within communities.
Panelists: Stuart Watt, Head News Strategy & Innovation, ABC, Tom Robinson - CEO, Edelman, Ben James, FactCheck Editor, Australian Associated Press
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
LUNCH BREAK
1:00 PM - 1:15 PM
1:00 PM - 1:15 PM
ACMA Update
The ACMA will provide a short update on its progress on the Media Diversity Measurement Framework and what the framework means for digital publishers.
1:15 PM - 1:45 PM
1:15 PM - 1:45 PM
Claire Stuchbery and LINA Board members will provide an update on LINA's progress and seek input to leadership priorities emerging in the year ahead.
1:45 PM - 2:30 PM
1:45 PM - 2:30 PM
LINA’s Data & Insights Analyst, Zahra Khalid will lead a panel discussion on measuring impact for newsrooms.
2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
2:30 PM - 2:45 PM
Member Profile: PS Media
Simon Crerar shares an update and learnings from Paradigm Shift Media
2:45 PM - 3:15 PM
2:45 PM - 3:15 PM
AFTERNOON TEA
3:15 PM - 3:45 PM
3:15 PM - 3:45 PM
To paywall or not to paywall? A light-hearted debate between publishers on the merits and/or evils of paywalling content.
3:45 PM - 4:45 PM
3:45 PM - 4:45 PM
LINA members participating in the Revenue Growth Pilot Program will join Jenni Ryall, Group Director, Content & Media at Bastion Transform for a discussion about the income-based experiments they’re developing as part of the program.
4:45 PM - 5:00 PM
4:45 PM - 5:00 PM
Member profile: Western Sydney Publishers
Troy Dodds provides an update on the Western Weekender and Parramatta News
9:00 AM - 9:05 AM
9:00 AM - 9:05 AM
Mayor Scomazzon
Morning address from the Mayor of Port Douglas
9:05 AM - 9:20 AM
9:05 AM - 9:20 AM
Member profile: SE Voice
Lechelle Earl shares an update from SE Voice
9:20 AM - 10:15 AM
9:20 AM - 10:15 AM
This workshop session will prepare you to run a digital campaign, including how to use the digital toolkit developed specifically for local newsrooms, how to set up a payment portal to get matched funding for the campaign.
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
MORNING TEA
Short break!
10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Get out your laptops and let's make some best practice SEO updates on your site in this hands-on session focused on search engine optimisation.
An opportunity to work together on a collective advertising representation: the model, the implementation, the tech, how to start.
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
Google News Initiative will help small-medium news publishers in Australia understand and prepare further for third-party cookie deprecation in Chrome.
Brush up on your reporting skills in this workshop run by the Community Media Training Organisation. Covering how to get the most from your interviews, how to approach tricky topics in reporting and a refresher on best practice writing techniques.
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
LUNCH BREAK
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Yellow Room: Managing Teams: HR Challenges
This session is for people managing small teams, or preparing to take on staff, exploring potential solutions to issues like staff retention and sharing common challenges across all areas of personnel management.
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
News avoidance is a rising concern, particularly among young audiences and women. This session will look at ways to reach audience groups you might not be engaging currently through multimedia content channels.
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Sell, sell, sell! A fast and furious brainstorm to share processes, tools and tips for managing advertising, from media kit to invoicing.
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
Rather than relying on social media algorithms to engage audiences, publishers can be pro-active about building direct newsletter lists to grow audience, revenue and engagement.
One of the key benefits to the LINA Summit is an opportunity to connect with other publishers, identify opportunities to collaborate, share ideas and gather strength from standing alongside people who are doing the same type of work.
2:45 PM - 3:15 PM
2:45 PM - 3:15 PM
AFTERNOON TEA
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM
If local news is a service to our communities - how are we, as publishers, best placed to help policy-makers, community groups and individuals explore solutions to the issues and challenges we see in our reporting work?
4:00 PM - 4:15 PM
4:00 PM - 4:15 PM
Member Profile: The Pineapple
Vivienne Wynter shares an update from The Pineapple
4:15 PM - 5:00 PM
4:15 PM - 5:00 PM
Among friends
Conference de-brief session - what are our out-takes from the last couple of days?
What do you need LINA to do from here?
What are your own next steps?
What haven't we covered that needs to be talked through?
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Casual drinks
Stroll over to Hemingways (44 Wharf St, Port Douglas) and join the Newsport & LINA teams for a casual wind-down drink after a busy few days.
Other Accommodation Options
For a plethora of other options explore the area via the Port Douglas Travel Planner from our friends at Newsport.
Spending some extra time in Port Douglas?
Explore a range of things to do on the Port Douglas Travel Planner.