You know, in blog years, Philebrity is like a gagillion years old. So we know some shit, we’ve seen ‘em come and go. And rather than keep it all in when some website or other launches or relaunches, we feel it’s our duty to pass on the wisdom. It’s with this in mind that we started doing the feature called Launch Party, where some startups come to die so that others may live.

After the jump, the skinny on new cityblogs from Philadelphia Magazine, the Daily News and the Metro.

Name: The Daily Examiner
Publisher: Philadelphia Magazine
Type Of Publication: A me-too cityblog that is essentially PhillyMag’s version of Philebrity — goss and news with a distinct tilt towards the suburbs. (The daily “Suburban Maw” feature is basically like “Rumblings” for commuters.) There’s also a lean in the direction of PhillyMag “Power People,” engendering posts about Patrick Sylvester (who?) Wilson Goode Jr. (what the…?) and so on.
Target audience: That’s the million dollar question. Or actually, the $500,000 question. PhillyMag’s been botching its web presence for so long that it’ll be a miracle if the portion of its audience that is not currently undergoing melanoma treatments will bother to show up all.
Assessment: Here’s the bitch of it: Not as bad as you’d think! Not by half, even. Helmed by Deadspin‘s AJ Daulerio, The Daily Examiner is in good hands. Daulerio is a quick wit, a great writer and generally has a good beat on what makes the city tick. However, there’s a little too much of DMac‘s patented “OMG THE NEWZ IZ FUNNY” bunting of stories that could usually merit some more commentary or original thinking.
Chances of survival: Given that PhillyMag, by all appearances, just wishes the Internet would go away, The Daily Examiner could easily wind up being pummeled into a partnership with Philly2Nite or some such other business. OK, maybe not, but given the mag’s history with all things website, a handoff at some point in the future would not be out of the question. Also, mark our words: Daulerio won’t last at PhillyMag. He’s not a moron, he’s got a little too much self-respect, and given his resume, he’s got something not a lot of the other PhillyMag staffers have: Options. So there’s that.

Name: Phillygossip.com
Publisher: Rumoredly, allegedly Philadelphia Media Holdings.
Type Of Publication: This is what we are hearing: After a throwing up a big public for-sale sign in the Metro and elsewhere, the domain “Phillygossip.com” was snapped up by none other than PMH and earmarked for none other than Daily News gossip columnist Dan Gross. Here, we assume, Gross would take his column and more online, creating an amazing, titillating, round-the-clock Dan Gross Experience.
Target audience: All Philadelphians who care about what kind of tipper Donovan McNabb is and who in the Power 99 extended family got locked up over the weekend. Which is to day, all Philadelphians.
Assessment: Since it’s not up yet, it’s hard to say. But the idea of Dan Gross blogging thrills us. We love this dude, and we’re not afraid to say it. We contacted the Death Star, however, and while they would neither confirm nor deny the existence, present or future, of Phillygossip.com, we did manage to pull this quote out of Mr. Gross:

“Hypothetically speaking, if I were to launch a gossip blog in the near future, I can only imagine, in theory of course, that it would kick the shit out of any so-called gossip blogs that have been or will be launched by any other local publications. And I would conceivably welcome the challenge.”

Chances of survival: Excellent.

Name: TBA
Publisher: The Metro
Type Of Publication: According to Josh Cornfield, tapped to helm the blog after a great run during the mayoral primary with FightForRoom215, they, uh, don’t quite know yet. “I guess I’d take the new NYT city blog as something of a model at this point,” he says “…. written with the same style, though, as FightforRoom215 was (and will be, when the campaign ratchets back up).” Thanks for the commercial, dude.
Target audience: This is where it gets tricky. While the physical Metro gets more easily accessible with each passing week — anybody else notice the new boxes cropping up like weeds all over town? — its web presence has been historically muddled and hard to navigate. They won’t be starting from scratch, but it’ll be close.
Assessment: We’re earmarking this one for being the definitive Philly politics blog. Who knows if Cornfield can spread his wings elsewhere yet, but on local politics, Cornfield writes with wit and grace in a way that no other Philly blogger presently does.
Chances of survival: 50/50.

Previously: LaunchParty: All-Partytrainsoldier Edition

This entry was posted on Monday, August 13th, 2007 at 1:20 pm.