Change is its own beat in newsrooms these days. Long-established newspapers remain anchors in many markets; but it’s no secret that the way we get our news is migrating even more quickly towards digital and mobile platforms. In fact, the American Society of News Editors documented a loss of 16,200 full-time newspaper newsroom jobs, while Ad Age recorded a decline of 38,000 magazine jobs from 2003-2012, which includes all jobs for the entire consumer magazine sector. Such job cuts continued in 2013 and early 2014 at such mainstay organizations as the Tribune Co. and Time Inc. But, while traditional print outlets are cutting staff, new digital outlets and aggregators are growing. For example, two years ago Buzzfeed had about a half dozen editorial employees and reports as of late place their employee count at more than 170. Bleacher Report – the online sports publication – had no paid writers two years ago and now count nearly 50[1] among its staff.
The Philadelphia media landscape is evolving, too. New local, digital outlets are popping up regularly, and we’re seeing more and more writers from major Philadelphia pubs going to new online destinations. Here’s a rundown of some of our favorites:
Billy Penn is a mobile-first platform with a Twitter-like layout. Headlines are formatted in a scrolling fashion, making it easy to navigate and include everything from local weather to politics and general hard news. The site launched in October of 2014 by veterans of newsrooms like The Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer and is offering news in a digitally advanced 
way. Philly Voice has a look and feel so
mewhere in between Philly.com and Philly Mag. Many of its editors and contributors came from the larger publications and are offering their flare in a new way. The site posts original content ranging from entertainment, to business to sports, covering trending topics and breaking news. The Philadelphia Citizen comes with a unique and proactive tagline – “What happened. What it means. And what you can do about it.” The site feels old school in a way, 
offering profiles of citizens doing good in the Philadelphia area in a scrolling article format. The personal stories of individuals making a change to better the community seemingly 
look to motivate readers to do the same. Lastly, SPOKE Magazine, is a unique new publication offering cyclist news and information to the Philadelphia area. With the new bike share program coming this spring and 300+ miles of completed Circuit trails in the region, we are anxious to see how this news source takes off… (Inside scoop: Spoke has already interviewed one of D+P’s clients for an upcoming issue!)
Read on, Philadelphia!
[1] http://www.journalism.org/2014/03/26/the-growth-in-digital-reporting/
