The coronavirus pandemic is proving the value of local news to millions of readers, driving up subscriptions. But the advertising collapse is knee-buckling. “If it’s a couple of months, we’ll make it through. If it’s six months, all bets are off.”
“The daily newspaper reporter might say, ‘You’re a community journalist, that’s so cute.’ But the fact is we’re professional and have our own organization.”
“You’re going to have micro-community sites with 72 lost-dog stories a day and [you’ll have] investigative reporting — but most of the things between those are going to struggle if we can’t figure out the model.”
After combining with Denverite, the company behind Billy Penn and The Incline hopes to prove its events-heavy model can work in a dozen or more cities.
“You have an event that goes really well. You send 175 ambassadors out of your event thinking it was awesome, saying ‘I love Billy Penn’s events.’ And on top of that, you make money doing it.”
Like Billy Penn in Philadelphia, the Pittsburgh site will focus on attracting a younger audience through events and aggregation in addition to original reporting.
Lichterman, Joseph. "The Incline, Billy Penn’s new sister site, launches in Pittsburgh." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 13 Sep. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2024.
APA
Lichterman, J. (2016, Sep. 13). The Incline, Billy Penn’s new sister site, launches in Pittsburgh. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved April 17, 2024, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2016/09/the-incline-billy-penns-sister-site-launches-in-pittsburgh/
Chicago
Lichterman, Joseph. "The Incline, Billy Penn’s new sister site, launches in Pittsburgh." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified September 13, 2016. Accessed April 17, 2024. https://www.niemanlab.org/2016/09/the-incline-billy-penns-sister-site-launches-in-pittsburgh/.
Wikipedia
{{cite web
| url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2016/09/the-incline-billy-penns-sister-site-launches-in-pittsburgh/
| title = The Incline, Billy Penn’s new sister site, launches in Pittsburgh
| last = Lichterman
| first = Joseph
| work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
| date = 13 September 2016
| accessdate = 17 April 2024
| ref = {{harvid|Lichterman|2016}}
}}
