Meet The Philadelphia Citizen

At the 2023 Ideas We Should Steal Festival

On Friday, November 17, The Philadelphia Citizen is holding our 6th Annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival presented by Comcast NBCUniversal. Meet changemakers and icons sharing ideas and solutions to help Philadelphia thrive. Get more information and register here:

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About citizenship in action, in Philadelphia

One of the founding tenets of The Philadelphia Citizen is to get people the resources they need to become better, more engaged citizens of their city.

We hope to do that in our Good Citizenship Toolkit, which includes a host of ways to get involved in Philadelphia — whether you want to contact your City Councilmember to voice your concerns about misinformation, get those experiencing homelessness the goods they need, or simply go out to dinner somewhere where you know your money is going toward a greater good.

Find an issue that’s important to you in the list below, and get started on your journey of A-plus citizenship.

Vote and strengthen democracy

Stand up for marginalized communities

Create a cleaner, greener Philadelphia

Help our local youth and schools succeed

Support local businesses

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about The Lenfest Institute for Journalism

Founded in 2016, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism works to create “solutions for the next era of local news by investing in sustainable business models at the intersection of local journalism and community in Philadelphia and nationwide.”

To that end, the Institute “offers strategic advisory services, runs training programs and communities of practice, provides grant funding, and synthesizes best practices to support sustainable solutions for local news providers and their communities.”

Keeping Local Media Afloat

Today, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism granted The Philadelphia Citizen — and 16 other local media organizations — beaucoup funds to sustain and grow

Keeping Local Media Afloat

Today, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism granted The Philadelphia Citizen — and 16 other local media organizations — beaucoup funds to sustain and grow

Local news organizations have struggled mightily to stay afloat over the past couple decades. And yet, trust in local media consistently exceeds that of national media. Maybe that’s not surprising: After all, you’re more likely to have faith in reporting by a nearby outlet than a faraway one.

At least, that’s how we feel at The Philadelphia Citizen, where we don’t just report the news: We report how we can solve Philadelphia’s biggest problems by digging into smart solutions. And then, we invite you into real, live, in-person conversations about solutions. (That’s what we’ll be doing this Friday, November 17 during our 6th annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival at the Comcast Technology Center. Hope to see you there!)

Lucky for us, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism agrees with these relatively new media tactics. Since 2016, the Philadelphia-based nonprofit has sought to strengthen community journalism by investing in it. In the past, they’ve supported civic and solutions-minded efforts such as Every Voice, Every Vote. They funded a study that found, among other things, The Citizen excelled as covering issues affecting Philly neighborhoods. Lenfest Head of Philadelphia Programs Shawn Mooring described our spunky lil’ solutions journalism nonprofit as “one of few local outlets that did a very thorough job in summarizing the issues that are of vital importance to Philadelphians.”

And, as of Tuesday, November 14, 2023, they’re helping us further our mission.

Local News Sustainability Initiative

The Citizen is one of 17 Philly-area news organizations to receive a portion of the Institute’s Philadelphia Local News Sustainability Initiative, “a two-year, $2 million grant program providing core operating support and capacity-building funding to nonprofit and for-profit local news organizations serving the Philadelphia region.” How much are we getting? $100,000. “funding focuses on notable sustainability drivers such as new revenue strategies, reaching new audiences, and the digital transformation of legacy news organizations.”

What will we use this cool hundred thou for? Increase social media outreach, data gathering, and make investments in both staff and equipment, thereby improving potential for revenue and overall sustainability.

Other recipients are African Cultural Alliance of North America, Billy Penn (WHYY), Chestnut Hill Local, Civic Capital Consulting / Generosity, FunTimes Magazine, Kensington Voice, Love Now Media, Newspaper Media Group, Esperanza, Philadelphia Gay News, PhillyCAM, Schneps Media – Metro Philadelphia, Technically Media, The Philadelphia Tribune, Trace Media, Inc. and WURD Radio. We look forward to seeing our fellow mini media giants at quarterly meetings.

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