Tim Worstall

The Philadelphia Inquirer

An odd question. Perhaps best answered by a US newspaper reader.

The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Big paper or no? If we were to talk about the most important papers nationally, OK, the NYT (look, we don’t even use the full name!), WaPo (ditto) the LAT (umm), SF, well is it Chronicle or Examiner these days?  Chicago Sun Times, St P….well, I’m hoping that someone can set this Englishman straight.

From what I understand so far the PI is very definitely one of the top 500 US newspapers. It is almost certainly one of the top 100. But is it top 50? 20? 10?

Why do I ask? Soooper sekkrit….well, OK, I’ve been asked to write for them.

Which leads to the question. Should I, as a blogger, regard this as a step up, to some higher sphere? Just what is the PI to Americans? A step up from blogging (which I’m sure will annoy many bloggers, yes, I do think the NYT or WSJ are) or a step down (add your name of newpaper here)?

Anybody willing to help me out here?

In

6 responses

  1. dearieme Avatar
    dearieme

    Less important than The Scotsman, more important than The Yorkshire Post? About equal to the Aberdeen Press and Journal?

    Reply
  2. P. Froward Avatar
    P. Froward

    They’re second-tier, but respectable. Philly’s like that city you have, London: Nice town, but not exactly in a league with Tokyo or Boston. Or even New York.

    Reply
  3. yellerKat Avatar
    yellerKat

    Comes in at No 20 on this list.
    Tim adds: That’s excellent, thanks, exactly what I needed.

    Reply
  4. dsquared Avatar
    dsquared

    If you’re regularly appearing in the Philly Inquirer, you’re not doing badly. And you have a reasonable chance of getting syndicated in a load of third and fourth tier newspapers like the Olkahoman, which is where the real money is.
    Tim adds: Book reviews so far alas. But better than a slap with a wet haddock. The syndication (self-syndication) is an explicit part of the contract.

    Reply
  5. Alex Avatar
    Alex

    Isn’t it a Knight Ridder paper?
    Tim adds: Just been bought out, local, non-stock market ownership.

    Reply
  6. The Remittance Man Avatar
    The Remittance Man

    Why all the angst? There are a couple of simple questions you need to ask yourself:
    Are they paying you suitably for your effort?
    Will it give you greater exposure, leading to more offers of work?
    Will they let you put your URL up as part of the by-line?
    Beyond that, so long as they aren’t dictating what opinions you are expressing, I’d say go for it. Blogging’s just another medium for writers (or opinionated loons, in my case) to get published.
    RM

    Reply

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