Categories: OLD Media Moves

Why the Philadelphia Inquirer focused on black-owned businesses

Gabriel Escobar, editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, writes about why the paper focused on black-owned businesses in a video series during Black History Month.

They were the work of digital producer Brandon T. Harden and video editor and producer Raishad M. Hardnett.

Escobar writes, “Some of the businesses they documented include a Germantown menswear boutique that sells vintage couture, an East Falls yoga and wellness studio, and a legendary North Philly jazz bar. Coming up: A story and video on the history of nutrition in black communities told through the context of a black-owned vegan smoothie shop in Philadelphia. See more of their work at Philly.com/video.

“‘We’re going to continue the series throughout the year,’ Harden said. ‘It’s really about how we can best tell the story of the business and the accompanying history.’

“The response from readers and viewers has been overwhelming, Harden and Hardnett said. One person called to say how much it meant to her that The Inquirer was paying attention to a part of the business community that often gets overlooked by mainstream media.

“‘Video has a way of bringing life and emotion to a story in an entirely different way’ than print, Hardnett said, recalling his interview with the 77-year-old owner of New Barber’s Hall jazz bar. ‘When we think of business reporting, we think of numbers and revenues and percentages. But watching the gleam in Jake Adams’ eyes when he talks is just as important.'”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.