Billy Penn, the buzzed-about, mobile-focused news outfit from digital media exec Jim Brady, is launching next week, executive editor Chris Krewson said in an interview.
For now, check out the company’s new logo, designed by a former colleague of Brady’s at the Washington Post.
News of Billy Penn’s launch comes after Interstate General Media announced it would shut down the standalone websites for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer, a year-and-a-half after their launch.
Billy Penn is currently searching for an organization to sponsor its launch, Krewson said.
Based at Temple University’s Center for Public Interest Journalism, the Billy Penn team is made up of four full-time employees (Krewson, a community manager and two reporters) and two contract employees (a New York-based director of product and a business development staffer in Philly).
Billy Penn is also putting Temple students to work as part of the entrepreneurial journalism class Krewson and Brady are teaching at the university. They sent Temple students to eight different neighborhoods to do market research, equipped with surveys on iPads. They’ll also have the chance to become paid contributors to the site, Krewson said.
Earlier this fall, Billy Penn launched its daily newsletter, which rounds up local Philly news. The outfit came under fire for what some saw as a “flippant joke” about rape allegations in one of its newsletters. The site has also done some reporting pre-launch.
And hung out with Philly Jesus:
http://youtu.be/520PYXyNgNk?t=47s
