Save the Press
Philanthropist Gerry Lenfest, who graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1953 and from its Law School in 1955, has made headlines for saving the struggling Philadelphia Inquirer and its sister publications, the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com.
As reported in The Washington Post, “Lenfest donated the entire Philadelphia Media Network (PMN), which runs all three of the outlets, to the nonprofit Institute for Journalism in New Media, part of the Philadelphia Foundation. The institute will be headed by a board composed mostly of journalism school deans and academic and foundation executives and will focus on supporting PMN.”
In 2014, when Gerry, a trustee emeritus of W&L, and businessman Lewis Katz bought the publications, he noted it was not to make money but to preserve an independent editorial voice for the region.
“Of all the things I’ve done,” Gerry said, “this is the most important. Because of the journalism.”
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