Philadelphia Inquirer gets $10M in federal Paycheck Protection Program coronavirus relief

The Philadelphia Inquirer has been awarded $10 million from the federal Paycheck Protection Program for businesses harmed by the coronavirus pandemic after changes to the program’s rules made the newsroom and other news outlets eligible for funding.

Thanks to the award, The Inquirer should be protected from layoffs through 2021, although buyouts may be offered later in the year, the paper’s publisher and chief executive Lisa Hughes said in an email to staff on Tuesday.

“Our industry is under pressure as both advertisers and consumers shift to digital platforms, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these pressures,” Hughes said. “While we have made significant efforts to reduce our operational expense, this loan is vital to the future of our business as it allows us to support jobs and our ongoing operations.”

PPP loans turn into grants for businesses when they spend at least 60% of those funds on payroll costs, among other requirements. As of this week, about half of the $953 billion approved by lawmakers over the course of last year has been allocated, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Hughes said The Inquirer, which is owned by the nonprofit Lenfest Institute for Journalism, did not qualify for PPP until recent changes to the program’s eligibility requirements. The changes to the program, which accompanied last year’s second stimulus bill, relaxed rules that had prevented news organizations owned by larger parent companies from accessing PPP funds.

Earlier this month, Hughes announced that The Inquirer had sold its Montgomery County printing plant for $37 million in a cost-cutting move. The Inquirer has said in October about 500 of the 550 employees who work at the plant would be laid off, more than half of what The Inquirer says is an average weekly workforce of 959.

Clarification: A previous version of this story cited The Inquirer’s total workforce, not its average weekly workforce. A company’s average weekly workforce is used to determine its eligibility for the federal Paycheck Protection Program.