“I could retire. But if I did, I’d be bored.”
Twenty-year-old Roblox millionaire Chrollo, who earns eight figures a year from a game he developed on the platform
READ MORE
Quote/Unquote
Lisa Hughes is the publisher and CEO of The Philadelphia Inquirer, which she joined in 2020 following a multiyear tenure as publisher and chief business officer of The New Yorker.
Under Hughes, The Inquirer has managed a methodical turnaround, generating a year-over-year revenue increase last year for the first time since 2004. The success is partially the result of a transformative investment the publisher received in 2015 from the philanthropist H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, which provided the newsroom with the governance structure and resources it needed to retool itself for the digital era.
Now, with 70% of its revenue coming from subscribers, The Inquirer is set to embark on a number of growth initiatives this summer, hiring reporters to join its 200-person newsroom, expanding into new geographies, bulking up its events portfolio, and investing in lifestyle coverage.
This interview has been edited.
Mark Stenberg: The Inquirer was recently profiled for its use of artificial intelligence to power hyper-local reporting. How has that worked?
Lisa Hughes: Last year, financed by philanthropic backing, we launched newsletters in four markets: Lower Merion, Cherry Hill, Chester County, and Cherry Hill. In each, we use a proprietary tool called Scribe that listens to and transcribes public meetings, then categorizes, scores, and ranks those notes by newsworthiness. The newsletters, which now have around 50,000 subscribers, improved subscriber growth and retention by 2% to 5% in each market and have generated higher clickthrough rate than other newsletters. It has been so successful that we are launching 10 more this year and 10 more next year.
Mark: What is it about The Inquirer’s ownership structure that has enabled these kinds of breakthroughs?
Lisa: In 2015, we were bought out of bankruptcy by Gerry Lenfest, who established the Lenfest Institute for Journalism as our nonprofit owner and created a tax structure that created a for-profit Inquirer with a separate board. His ownership allowed The Inquirer to transform from a legacy print shop to a modern multiplatform news organization.
Mark: You are now expanding coverage, both by geography and vertical—a rare sight in local news.
Lisa: In June we are expanding into South Jersey, hiring between four to six new reporters to staff that effort. We are also expanding our weekend coverage, an initiative funded by philanthropy. If you visit our website on the weekend you will see a different design format, as well as new features like Field Trips, Perfect Philly Day, and the breakout hit How I Bought This House.
Mark: How is the company faring financially?
Lisa: Seventy percent of our revenue comes from a mix of digital and print subscribers, 19% from advertising, 5% from syndication, and 6% from philanthropy. We used to be a business led by advertising revenue, which is still important to us but now plays a smaller role. Overall, the pie has shrunk, but that transformation has enabled us to become a consumer-driven business.
