Neil Budde is getting used to Philadelphia. As the newly appointed CEO of the
Philadelphia Public Interest Information Network (PPIIN), Budde reports it has been a whirlwind two months.
"I'm getting out and meeting as many people as possible," reports Budde (pronounced "buddy"), who's connecting with the city's journalists, civic groups and tech stars since taking the post March 5. Budde, born in Kentucky, was previously the President of DailyMe, a customizable news feed site, and also held editorial management positions at Yahoo and The Wall Street Journal.
The start-up nonprofit PPIIN, funded by the
William Penn Foundation in partnership with
Temple University, was "created to improve public affairs in Philadelphia by accelerating the full development of a new-media and journalism ecosystem, by forming collaborations with new and established news organizations, and by launching new ventures," according to information sent out during the job recruitment process.
"The organization is somewhat two headed," explains Budde. "We have our brand presence and will create our own identity, and we'll also support news sites all over the city. One of the big themes is data. We plan to step up and take over
Open Data Philly for both the public good and also for journalistic research."
Budde looks to mobile and multimedia rather than building a web presence. "The other big opportunity is to find ways to use information to create substantial discussion. I've never been a big fan of hanging comments on the bottom of stories. It's a very fragmented experience. Half a dozen news organizations are writing about a topic. Each fosters discussion. We are going to work to create a single community discussion."
Budde will also be in charge of fundraising. While he is now all about getting the PPIIN team in place, he says much of his attention will turn to business development, finding additional sources of money beyond the initial $2.4 million William Penn grant. The hope is that the CEO will find between $5-7 million over the next five years. Between six and eight hires are also planned.
"One of the things that appealed to me about the job in general is that it's a blank sheet of paper. There is no hard and fast mandate. I do think a key part of what we ought to be focusing on is serving younger audiences and underserved audiences. Parts of the city no longer have local news outlets."
Budde arrives in the midst of a seismic shift both locally, with recent changes to ownership at Philadelphia Media Network, as well as globally. "The shift is not just from print to digital. There's a wide range of ways for people to pick up news and information," says Budde, who counts everything from The Daily Show, to bits and fragments that are delivered via social media, some of which link back to conventional media.
One other thing Budde will change: the name of his organization. "PPIIN is necessarily vague and broad. We're trying to come up with something shorter and more specific, and we're working on soliciting ideas from the public. Like everything else, we don't want to put a name on it until we narrow our focus."
Source: Neil Budde, Philadelphia Public Interest Information Network
Writer: Sue Spolan