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It took a series of unfortunate and fortunate events for Michael Phillips to decide on the next chapter of his career in journalism.
The former Richmond Times-Dispatch sports editor was laid off by newspaper owner Lee Enterprises in July 2023. Stints at The Washington Times and 910 AM The Fan followed. But, inspired by the success of the Southwest Virginia online news outlet Cardinal News, he began to build The Richmonder, a digital news nonprofit launching Sept. 9. “I’m truly here because I feel like this is a calling for the city,” Phillips says.
Michael Phillips, founding editor of The Richmonder (Photo by Jay Paul)
The Richmonder initially will focus on City Council and school board meetings and the decisions arising from them, as well as the Nov. 5 elections. “We’re not going to be running around, trying to compete with other players; we’re trying to be where other people aren’t,” Phillips says. “And I think the answer for that is where journalists aren’t right now, [it] is City Hall and the school board in the city.”
Phillips has hired Virginia Mercury politics reporter Graham Moomaw and former Mercury Editor-in-Chief Sarah Vogelsong. He also has brought on Virginia Public Access Project founder David Poole as business manager.
The Richmonder’s launch coincides with Richmond’s upcoming mayoral, City Council and school board elections, which Moomaw and Vogelsong will cover. “They are going to make a difference in this election through their fair, unbiased reporting, and I’m super excited for people to see that,” Phillips says.
The content that is posted on richmonder.org and delivered via email won’t be hidden behind a paywall. Instead, the 501(c)(3) is supported by tax-deductible donations, following the model offered by Cardinal News. “I’m very grateful to Cardinal for coming along when they did,” Phillips says. “They’ve saved us literal months along the way in terms of providing guidance, providing recognition that this is something that can work." Phillips says The Richmonder has raised about $250,000 for its first-year budget of $399,000.
At its unveiling in June, The Richmonder was already creating waves. On its website and in an Axios Richmond article, it asserts that “the daily newspaper, shrinking before our eyes, often doesn’t send a reporter to City Council meetings.” That appeared to come as news to RTD reporter Em Holter, who on X posted a thread of some of her work “to clarify that we do, in fact, cover these meetings.” A request for comment sent to Holter and RTD Executive Editor Chris Coates received no response by press time.
“The line I’m drawing,” Phillips responds, “is the difference between the morning after a fire, asking people what the fire was like, and being there when the fire was burning. And if anybody in a journalism sphere tells you that it’s OK to not attend a meeting because you can watch it on YouTube later, you can read the minutes later, I would dispute that they are doing their job as a public servant and a journalist. I think it is incredibly important that we, the public, have eyes and ears in the room when decisions are being made.”
While the local news scene has shrunk noticeably over the past two decades, journalists have managed to find ways to stay in the game. For example, former Lee Enterprises reporters and editors have gone on to lead Axios Richmond, VPM News and the Virginia Mercury, to name a few. And after Lee dismissed the four members of its national weather team in June, RTD-based meteorologist Sean Sublette launched a digital weather consultancy firm in July to add context to forecasts, help plan events, and perform forensic meteorology for insurance and other purposes. Sublette is also set to contribute to The Richmonder, Phillips says.
In 2023, Lee, which says it serves 73 markets in 26 states, cut the number of days print editions would appear for many of its papers (though not the RTD), and this year, Lee announced it would cease print publication on certain holidays, such as July 4, though a digital version would still be produced. And in August, the RTD said it will leave its East Franklin Street home next April.
Big changes are afoot for other outlets, too. On July 31, Virginia Business, which was sold in 2009 by Media General (then the owner of the RTD) to an investment group that included the magazine’s president and publisher, announced it was being acquired by BridgeTower Media, owned by the private equity firm Transom Capital Group.
“We’re running into all the headwinds here” as a new media startup, Phillips says, “and the thing that keeps me going and keeps us going is [that] this is needed, this is important. And if we provide this and show people the value we can bring, I think people will recognize that value.”
Mark Newton previously served as an editor at the Lee Enterprises-owned Daily Progress newspaper in Charlottesville.
