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H.F. "Gerry"
Lenfest told the Inquirer the donation was an effort to preserve
independent journalism in Philadelphia and protect traditional
print newspapers at a time of shrinking readership and revenues
from advertisements.
Lenfest has given $20 million to endow the new non-profit group,
called the Institute for Journalism in New Media , a subsidiary
of the Philadelphia Foundation, the Inquirer said.
The move comes two months after the Philadelphia Media Network,
the parent company of the newspapers and website, merged the
three newsrooms to save $5 million to $6 million. Last month, 46
reporters were laid off by the company.
Terrance C.Z. Egger, the publisher of the Philadelphia Media
Network, said the institute will own the news outlets but will
have no governance power over them. The outlets will remain
for-profit and the editorial functions at all three will remain
independent of the institute.
Money from grants will be used to finance specific journalism
projects but will not fund general operating expenses, he said.
Lenfest and his late business partner Lewis Katz won control of
the Philadelphia Media Network at auction in 2014. Katz was
killed in a plane crash the same year.
(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
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