“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.”
The three sites together are “just south of 1,500 paying customers,” 60 percent of whom are signed up as recurring contributors (of these, the average annual contribution is around $115 or $120). Denverite, which launched its program first, has around 900 members.
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.”
WhereBy.Us is one of the most interesting digital startups working in the local news space. After starting in Florida, it’s launching The Evergrey in Seattle, and it has its eye on additional markets.
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}}
}}
