Nolan Group Media chosen to help newspaper Industry

The Mountain Advocate, as part of  Nolan Group Media, a family business that owns a total of nine newspapers and news websites in Eastern Kentucky, was recently selected for a national program that aims to help local media groups create self-sustainable business models.

Only nine other media organizations nationwide were selected to be part of a second cohort for a transformative program known as the Local Media Association’s (LMA) Family and Independent Media Sustainability Lab. LMA is one of the largest media trade associations in North America, with more than 3000 media properties involved. 

“This is absolutely a transformational opportunity,” Nolan Group Media CEO Jay Nolan said. “You get training by world class experts from Google and from across the media industry. Also you get a full year of consulting and coaching from professionals for free. Then, as a cherry on top, you get up to $10,000 to conduct an experiment designed to help you be a better, more sustainable local news provider. We are so grateful!” 

As part of the lab, Nolan Group Media will strengthen and build upon their existing business model through a collaborative process that includes guidance from industry experts, funding for a new initiative to better serve Eastern Kentucky audiences, and access to one-on-one tailored training sessions with industry experts this year. This program is sponsored by the Google News Initiative and the Knight Foundation. 

From April 1-3, 2025, Nolan joined other members of the cohort to learn about the media industry from Google experts in New York City and to represent Nolan Group Media and Eastern Kentucky among other industry leaders.

“As we continue to learn new ways to use technology, extend limited resources, and hopefully raise pay for our talented team members, our ultimate goal is to produce better local journalism. I hope our experiments help us make life for our audience just a little better in every community we serve,” Nolan said.