Toward a Healthy Media Ecosystem for Philadelphia

[Commentary] Without necessarily waiting for a more comprehensive survey of the local media ecosystem, any new journalistic endeavor in the city [of Philadelphia], regardless of audience, should consider how increased public access to and changing demographics on the Internet, radio airwaves, and cable system will offer opportunities for distribution, revenue, and broader public engagement. Beyond their usefulness as new media infrastructure, the community engagement processes that WPEB and PhillyCAM have used to develop their assets and that Media Mobilizing Project and the Digital Justice Coalition used to develop its broadband vision offer important lessons for how to launch a collaborative media venture. Residents of Philadelphia who are dissatisfied with how the media ecosystem has served them should look to build on this example and take further advantage of new infrastructure for public participation. Those who have considered themselves well-served by the media should look to the MMP model of a networked media hub that can greatly expand the public's access to information and build relationships across historic divisions. Those who have been unserved by the journalism of the past may be the ones with the most to teach us about its future. It is a message that older media ignore at their own peril.