Philly strikers could establish rival online-news

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on November 29, 2006 at 2:33 PM

If no agreement is reached by the end of Thursday, the employees from Philadelphia’s two largest dailies – The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News – threaten to go on strike and launch an online newspaper, which would compete against their own newspaper’s website.

About 700 of the 900 Guild members signed strike eligibility forms. 200 of the employees would staff the rival website – PhilaPapers.com, which will provide all the traditional sections including news, politics, business, sports and entertainment.

Employees’ discontent is caused by the owner’s proposal to reform the pension plan and remove seniority status for employees.

Clearly the staffers’ web venture could pose problems to Philadelphia Media Holdings, but analysts tend to see the project as unviable in the long run, because ad revenues would be so hard to find.

If the strike does persist and PhilaPapers sustains itself, it could also be an example of one of the most successful spontaneous online-news enterprises.

Source: Associated Press through Houston Chronicle