Could It Be Sunny In Philadelphia?

The Philadelphia Media Network—the serious broadsheet Inquirer, scrappy tabloid Daily News and digital hub Philly. com—has been the poster child for newspaper ownership turmoil over the past decade. A half-dozen separate owners have shepherded a half-dozen separate strategies, all while the business for major metro papers, including those in Philadelphia, was facing dramatic digital disruption and revenue declines.

Enter Gerry Lenfest, a local cable network owner-turned-major philanthropist, who found himself as the sole owner looking for a better path forward. In January, the 85-year-old Lenfest announced a complex nonprofit/for-profit hybrid structure he believes will give PMN a fighting chance, both at survival after he’s gone and at helping to solve the news industry’s shared challenges. While PMN is complex and still in an early stage, potential lessons can be learned about its component parts that could be applicable for other newspaper owners, publishers and funders.