The cost of ‘ghost newspapers’ in the Philly suburbs

• Ed Mahon
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  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Emma Lee / WHYY

Upper Merion reference librarian Kristine Pennese keeps the most popular newspapers, the Times Herald and USA Today, behind the desk so they don't disappear.

From The Context, PA Post’s weekday email newsletter:

A ‘slash-and-burn’ approach

Emma Lee / WHYY

Upper Merion reference librarian Kristine Pennese keeps the most popular newspapers, the Times Herald and USA Today, behind the desk so they don’t disappear.

• WHYY’s Laura Benshoff reports that hedge-fund backed media companies are bringing “a slash-and-burn approach to pulling revenue out of papers in Philadelphia’s collar counties.” Benshoff looked at the larger impact those cuts have on a community.

• WHYY is also seeking information from people in the Philly area about how they consume news. You can take a survey here.

• Meanwhile, in Berks County, bids were received to purchase the Reading Eagle Company, which filed for bankruptcy protection in March. MediaNews Group, one of the companies Benshoff wrote about, emerged as the sole qualified bidder, the Reading Eagle reported. Earlier, Philly.com reported the company had warned more than 200 employees of potential layoffs.

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