The Philadelphia Inquirer moves forward as one brand, one mission

It’s been some three decades since my family thought I had lost my mind.

I left The Wall Street Journal’s Philly bureau to join the Philadelphia Daily News. My family was not happy, but it made perfect sense to me.

The Journal was then, as it is now, a prestigious newspaper with a financial bent charged with covering the planet. My DNA was much more tied to the people up the street who were leaning into intense coverage of Philadelphia and this diverse region. Back then, I was thrilled to cover Mayor Wilson Goode, and later the city schools, along with my peers from The Inquirer and other outlets.

The Inky and the Daily News were competitive then and for many years to come. Competition can be a fun thing — motivation to be first with a story. We had that luxury.

Back then, no one could imagine a time when technology would disrupt our world, making the smartphone essential for all and a tool to gather information. We did not have a clue that, ultimately, technology would provide fewer dollars to make all three brands — Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com — intentionally local in covering our city and our region.

So, we have done a very smart thing. We are doubling down on our commitment to creating local journalism that produces results, inspires us, and makes our community better.

Forget about all the corporate names we have carried over the years. If there has been confusion about what we do and who we serve, ambiguity should end here. From this day forth, we are officially The Philadelphia Inquirer. One brand, one mission, committed to developing indispensable journalism that reflects the communities we serve.

We hope you’ll continue to engage with us however you like. Home delivery and single-copy availability of both The Inquirer and Daily News will remain — with a renewed commitment to customer service — throughout the region. And you can interact with more of our journalism at Inquirer.com, where a digital subscription costs less per week than a cheesesteak.

After more than 30 years, my tenure in this newsroom is still just a fraction of The Inquirer’s 190-year history. Our focus on local journalism has stayed unchanged, and I think my family would finally agree that I hadn’t lost my mind after all.

Michael Days is The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion. He spent 10 years as editor of the Philadelphia Daily News, which won a 2010 Pulitzer Prize under his leadership.