Philadelphia Weekly lives on as a "zombie" site
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Illustration: Rebecca Zisser
The once-popular Philadelphia Weekly has largely become a "zombie" site.
Why it matters: For decades, the last remaining local alt-weekly championed progressive causes and highlighted stories ignored by larger outlets.
- The continued disinvestment of traditional journalism gives Philadelphians fewer options for credible information amid a declining overall news industry.
What's happening: Philadelphia Weekly, sold to digital marketing company Paradise Media about two years ago, now peddles posts with advice about escort services and sex alongside "best of" lists for local dentists, thrift stores and cheesesteaks.
- Decades of the publication's archives remain on the site.
Context: Zombie newspaper sites generally contain content and appear functional but their domain names have been abandoned, sold or repurposed.
- Some of them rarely post new content, if ever, and rely on a combination of nostalgia and search engine traffic to generate online ad revenue.
Between the lines: Paradise Media, based in Puerto Rico, owns other websites like the Sex Toy Collective, and managementhelp.org per the New York Times.
- The company and Philly Weekly did not respond to our requests for comment.
Flashback: The former liberal alt-weekly newspaper, founded in 1971 as the Welcomat, struggled over the last decade and changed ownership several times.
- It flopped when it switched to a conservative outlet in 2020.
- The publication soon reverted to the left-leaning coverage it was known for but ended its print production in April 2022.
Zoom out: Paradise Media caused an uproar last year by running a list of the best hookup sites for flings in a respected literary magazine based in Nevada that it had purchased.
Details: New content on Philly Weekly's website is rarely posted. Articles include headlines like, "So, My Brother Joined a Sex Dungeon."
- A recent post was written in what appears to be German with the headline, "Escort Sites Switzerland — The Best Escort Ads in Switzerland," per Google Translation.
Plus: Several writers still listed on the site no longer work there. Some declined to discuss their time at Philly Weekly with Axios.
- Anthony Hennen, a former executive editor at the alt-weekly, tells Axios he recalled a loss of editorial independence after Paradise Media took over.
- "Paradise Media is not a journalism company and they seem to have no intention of becoming one," he said.
What they're saying: Burton Speakman, a communications expert at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, tells Axios zombie sites are a form of disinformation as they trade off a recognizable name while not providing what people expect.
- "It's getting harder for people to find reliable sources because people go back and they look for the media they trusted four or five years ago and it's really surprising how much of it is gone," he says.