Tierney's Bid to Revive Local Analog News Shows Promise

As none other than the New York Times recently reported, Philadelphia's newspaper situation is experiencing a bit of an upswing, or at least a comfortable plateau, compared to the state of things during the vomit-inducing dissipation of Knight-Ridder's ability to hang on to the Inquirer and the Daily News, not to mention the 30 other papers it was forced to sell off last year.

Publisher Brian Tierney, whose Philadelphia Media Holdings, LLC acquired the Philly papers in 2006, has instituted a fierce advertising campaign to notify readers and, more importantly, advertisers, of the .6% increase in Inquirer circulation this year.

Yes, the campaign involves some very cute and very airborne piggies, but how exactly the papers will parlay this positive development into something more tangible remains to be seen.

While Phillyist loves the Inqy and has reported on the trials and tribulations of the 'circulate or sell it!' crisis before, we remind you that, while analog news has its good points (tradition, physical accessibility, and secondary uses like as an umbrella or as cheap-ass wrapping paper), digital news is often written by such talented and downright good-looking folks that it becomes necessary to patronize both avenues whilst quenching your thirst for current events knowledge.

Image Credit: Flickr user Chrisinphilly