In Philadelphia, a young nonprofit buys a century-old magazine

The Philadelphia Citizen, the decade-old nonprofit dedicated to solutions journalism and civic engagement, has acquired Philadelphia Magazine. As part of the acquisition, announced on Friday, the 117-year-old Philly Mag will transition to a nonprofit under an umbrella 501(c)(3) Citizen Media Group.

It’s the latest example of two national media trends — legacy news organizations converting to nonprofit status and consolidation in nonprofit news — pursued as bids for survival in a contracting industry.

Earlier this year, the parent company of Philly Magazine, Metro Corp, sold Boston Magazine to The Boston Globe. In an interview with The Globe in January, Metro Corp. chairman and CEO David Lipson acknowledged the succession challenge that threatens dwindling, family-owned local news outlets like his across the country.

“I’m getting older, and the business is changing, and none of my kids were interested in getting into the business,” he told The Globe.

Acquisitions can give those publications a shot at living on. This sale was funded by a group led by venture capitalist Richard Vague and Future Standard CEO Michael Forman. Per The Inquirer, the acquisition has been in the works for around 16 months.

Larry Platt, co-founder and co-executive director of The Citizen, said the “distinct but intertwined brands” will help readers learn how to “live well and do good in Philadelphia” in a manifesto-like announcement. The new editor of Philly Mag, Christy Speer Lejeune, said she envisions the magazine as “Philadelphia’s ultimate user’s guide.”

In the announcement, Platt also laments the ascent of polarization as a “new cultural religion” and draws on the ideals of Thomas Jefferson (who he refers to as “ol’ TJ”) to frame the acquisition as a move to strengthen democracy by way of local media.

“If we stand for anything,” he writes, “it’s that holding the door for your neighbor at Wawa, celebrating a chef who puts it all on the line to make her dream a reality, learning how to navigate an often confusing healthcare system, or holding a corrupt elected official to account — these are all acts of local patriotism.”

The magazine and Citizen brands will remain separate, but the newsrooms will merge “with some journalistic content cross-pollinated between the publications,” according to a press release. The team plans to redesign the magazine and website, which will feature “enhanced food and beverage content,” and launch a daily podcast. One fact-checker and eight advertising and marketing employees will lose their jobs as part of the sale.

Platt told The Inquirer he believes the nonprofit model will allow the magazine to grow revenue through corporate sponsorships, philanthropy, and new donors.

“If you got to look, as we did early on, at Philly Mag’s [profit and loss statement], you would realize that they’ve been a nonprofit for years,” he told The Inquirer. “They just didn’t recognize it.” (City magazines “are all, without exception, in trouble right now” due to losses of subscribers, advertisers, and pages, as LION Publishers executive director Chris Krewson told The Inquirer.)

While emblematic of national trends, there are some unique local quirks to this acquisition. Platt is a former top editor at Philadelphia Magazine who The Inquirer reported was fired in 2010 due to his “history of inappropriate and unprofessional remarks and jokes to his employees,” including a bizarre gift to a female staffer. (Platt told The Inquirer the firing was about his management style.)

Read Platt’s full announcement here.