The Local paper (aka Uplift Local) is independent & privately-owned, and is a product of East Falls Media LLC.
A free paper is a special kind of public space, where all different voices come together. We don’t compete with traditional news, we complement it with personal perspectives from outside mainstream bubbles. As a partner in WHYY’s News & Information Community Exchange (a grassroots media collaborative), we explore local issues that affect all residents, regardless of neighborhood: art, food, music, business, development, politics, safety, education, environment and more.
While our coverage has expanded to include content from these citywide partners, our focus remains on you, our Northwest Philly readers in East Falls, Germantown, Allegheny West, Wissahickon, Roxborough and vicinity. Every issue is curated for the neighbors we know best, living in one of the most diverse and inspiring parts of the city.
Our contributors come from throughout NW Philadelphia — reporters, community leaders and developers, as well as fiction & humor writers, memoirists, reviewers, and experts of all kinds. In addition to articles, we also welcome photos, cartoon, Q&A’s, demonstrations, and even video.
We reserve the right to edit as needed but our primary goal is to share different voices for our readers to connect with. NOTE: while The Local fact-checks and provides sources used to verify information, we have no aspirations of objectivity and, indeed, strongly resist the “both-siderism” of traditional journalism that often fails to call out obvious wrongs and misinformation. Read more about our editorial approach here.
Editorial Independence Policy
The Local (aka NW Local) retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.
We may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but we maintain editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
We will make public all donors who give a total of $5,000 or more per year. We will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization.