Program

The future of local news starts here: Creators, AI, and lessons from the 2025 Reimagining Philadelphia Journalism Summit

By Hayley Slusser

June 30, 2025

Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing media industry and growing threats to the independent press, local news trailblazers, innovators, and researchers came together at the Reimagining Philadelphia Journalism Summit to discuss strategies for building organizations that can serve communities for years to come. 

At this year’s Summit, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism brought together 150 journalists, publishers, leaders, and funders from Philadelphia and beyond to discuss solutions for newsrooms to enhance their digital transformation, meet audiences where they are, and empower the next generation of journalists.  

“The research, panel discussions, and lightning talks collectively highlight the fact that journalism in Philadelphia and across the country is in a perpetual state of reimagining and evolution,” said Shawn Mooring, The Lenfest Institute’s head of Philadelphia programs. “This annual gathering is powerful reminder of the importance and impact of the work we do.” 

If you couldn’t make it to Philly this year, we’ve compiled a few takeaways from the Summit:

It’s not a question of “if” your organization will adopt news creators — it’s “when” 

Adults in the U.S. are regularly getting their news and information from social media — including from “news influencers” or other figures audiences don’t know directly, according to Galen Stocking, senior computational scientist at Pew Research Center. That’s why it’s important for news organizations to begin tapping into social media as a means of building brand awareness and trust.  

Whether creating content in-house or partnering with existing creators, authenticity is key. At Lehigh Daily, Founder and Editor in Chief Jai Smith said the organization has found success on TikTok by keeping their content “raw” and minimizing the amount of editing on videos aside from adding captions with context, helping show the organization is reporting live on-the-ground. 

Another strategy for delivering news in a way that feels authentic to viewers is tapping into trusted social media personalities. Technical.ly Editorial Director Danya Henninger said the organization is collaborating with tech influencers to share takeaways from its journalism.  

 “We’re thinking about our reporting as a wire service for social media influencers,” she said.  

To bring civic information to younger audiences, The Lenfest Institute’s Every Voice, Every Vote initiative engaged TYP Social Media Co. to identify and partner with content creators from across Philadelphia. Every Voice, Every Vote and TYP provided toolkits to participating creators about what nonpartisan resources needed to be included in their posts, and the creators could then direct their audiences to the resources.  

Meet the Philly social media influencers making civic content resonate Meet the Philly social media influencers making civic content resonate

For content creator Elaine Gonzalez-Johnson, she’s found success by listening to what her followers are interested in and connecting them with Every Voice, Every Vote resources based on their engagement.  

“I realized that my audience loves to see a video of me and my boo, so then I’ll tell my husband ‘We’ve got to make a video together about civic engagement, because it’s going to really pop off,’” Gonzalez-Johnson said. “You realize that your audience is telling you what they like, and they do that by likes and commenting on what it is.”  

If you’re looking to create content in-house, Henninger suggested adding a bullet to job listings looking for people who are interested in being on camera. There are plenty of reporters from traditional media outlets who also double as news influencers, and if you’re hesitant to let your staff post regularly on social media out of fear of seeming biased, you’re missing out on audience engagement opportunities.  

“How people consume the news is shifting, and so if we care, as journalists and as leaders of news organizations, about getting true, factual, updated, interesting, useful information out to people, we shouldn’t really gatekeep on the delivery method,” Henninger said. “And people are turning to news influencers.”  

Digital transformation  

Beyond social media adoption, it’s never too late to make changes to help your newsroom become more digitally savvy to help reach new audiences. For FunTimes Magazine, a Philadelphia-based publication serving the African Diaspora, the financial strain from the COVID-19 pandemic led the organization to cease printing and become digital-first.  

The Beyond Print Toolkit The Beyond Print Toolkit

Publisher Eric Nzeribe said the organization welcomed the shift and the funders who wanted to support their efforts. It paid off: The organization tapped into the Diaspora community beyond the Delaware Valley and expanded its reach, gaining nearly 98,000 followers on Facebook and more than 29,000 on Instagram.  

For publishers worried about making similar pivots, Nzeribe said it’s better to try new things to keep your organization afloat than to let it continue declining.  

“A living dog is greater than a dead lion,” he said. 

For organizations further into their digital journeys, tapping into AI tools can streamline the work they’re already doing. The publishers participating in the Lenfest AI Collaborative and Fellowship Program, in partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft, are developing tools for archival research, data extraction, product generation, audience and web traffic data analysis, and more. The goal is not to replace the work of human journalists, but to create tools that give them more time to do their essential work.  

“We don’t want to do any of this to our newsroom or journalists,” said Chris Patheiger, chief product and innovation officer of The Dallas Morning News.  “We want to do it with them.” 

How The Philadelphia Inquirer built an AI-driven research tool to unlock its archives How The Philadelphia Inquirer built an AI-driven research tool to unlock its archives

Supporting the next generation of journalists 

Just because younger generations are less likely to consume news from traditional media outlets doesn’t mean they are disengaged from current events.  

“I’ve seen a lot of people — even more non-journalism majors than journalism majors — applying and being like, ‘Right now, I need to have somewhere where I can speak on these issues,’” said Sidney Rochnik, editor in chief of Temple University’s student newspaper, The Temple News.   

For these new recruits, we must give them the tools to succeed and the motivation to stay in the industry. Ashton Jackson, a reporter at CNBC Make it, said her participation in a two-year immersive program with NBCU Academy after graduating made a huge difference in jumpstarting her career.   

In addition to mentorship and training, NBCU Academy offers a suite of free digital resources and guides for young journalists — or anyone looking to brush up on their reporting skills. But Elizabeth Flores, vice president of news at NBC10 and Telemundo62, said more must be done to connect younger reporters with resources to prevent early burnout.  

“It’s about inspiring our young journalists so that there isn’t that turnover,” she said. “So that they know that their job is extremely important and that we need to continue on this path, as hard as it may get.”