As independent newspapers disappear, a secretive alliance fights to save them - Poynter

"Twice a year, the publishers of some of the nation's last independent, family-owned newspapers gather in a nondescript hotel conference room to trade numbers and hard truths. They compare revenue streams, share new product ideas and talk candidly about layoffs, subscriber churn and the occasional wins that keep them going. They call themselves the Independent Newspaper Group - ING for short - a private network"

"Members join by invitation and agree to strict confidentiality, sharing sensitive financial data and frank assessments of their businesses. The privacy is what makes the honesty possible. Inside closed-door sessions, publishers can ask the blunt questions they can't raise anywhere else. Did that new events strategy really make money? Was the paywall worth it? How are you surviving? For many, those conversations are the rarest thing left in local journalism."

Meetings occur twice a year in nondescript hotel conference rooms where publishers trade numbers, share product ideas, and discuss layoffs, subscriber churn, and occasional wins. The group is invitation-only and operates with strict confidentiality so members can share sensitive financial data and frank assessments. The network has no public website or social media presence and maintains a minimal online record beyond staff announcements. The Independent Newspaper Group was founded nearly forty years ago by a marketing researcher who saw a need for like-for-like comparisons among privately held newspapers. Closed-door sessions enable publishers to ask blunt operational questions about events strategies, paywalls, and survival tactics that are rare elsewhere in local journalism.

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