Professional Development

Jim Brady’s new Philly news venture changes name, makes first hire

Philadelphians didn't like the name "Brother.ly," said Brady.

A statue of William Penn. (Photo by Flickr user raymondclarkeimages, used under a Creative Commons license)

Philadelphia’s newest online news venture has an even newer name: Billy Penn.

Founder Jim Brady scrapped the original name, Brother.ly, because Philadelphians didn’t seem to like it, he wrote in a blog post.

Billy Penn also made its first editorial hire. Shannon McDonald, currently the social media strategist at WHYY/NewsWorks, will be Billy Penn’s community manager.

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

16 places to responsibly dispose of old electronics in Philadelphia

19 tech and entrepreneurship events to check out before the holidays

Are digital navigators the answer to closing Philadelphia’s tech gap?

Expect high-speed internet at 100 Philly rec centers in 2025, Verizon says

Technically Media