Inquirer business columnist Joseph N. DiStefano on Philly tech [Friday Q&A]

With the pressure of updating a daily news blog in addition to his regular column in the Philadelphia Inquirer, columnist Joseph N. DiStefano says that the biggest change over the last few years in the newspaper offices at 400 N. Broad is acceleration.

“It’s a lot easier to get a hold of key documents and get answers to a lot of basic questions online,” says DiStefano, who pens the Inky’s PhillyDeals column.

“But reporting is reporting. News is information that someone else wants to suppress.”

DiStefano has the gruff exterior one might expect of a veteran newspaper columnist who writes hard news about regional business.

“I used to tell CEOs that if you’re indicted, I will cheerfully write that story on page one. Not to celebrate indictment, but because we have the space there,” he says. “It’s an adversarial role.”

Since 2007, DiStefano’s distinct attitude has been on display in that column, which covers a broad range of business topics, including development and real estate, finance and Philadelphia’s technology community.

DiStefano, who grew up on the Main Line, has been in the reporting business since 1988, when he was looking for a steady line of work after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in economics and U.S. history.

He’s gone on to report finance at Bloomberg and in 2005, published Comcasted, about Comcast’s cable strategy, all while he and his wife were raising six kids.

After the jump, we ask to borrow DiStefano’s crib notes for business and technology reporting in Philadelphia.

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Franklin Institute gets $250k grant for capital campaign

As the Philadelphia Business Journal reported on Monday, the US Airways Community Foundation provided $250,000 to the Franklin Institute for its museum expansion and $62 million capital campaign, according to a press release.

From the release:

“US Airways’ support is vital in allowing the Institute to further its mission – to inspire a passion for learning about science and technology,” said Don Callaghan, Institute Trustee and Chair of the Inspire Science! campaign. “Their assistance with this campaign allows us to continue to expand our efforts to provide one-of-a-kind, world-class science experiences that impact hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren and families every year.”

Technically Not Tech: Media Mobilizing Project closes grant, looks forward

Media Mobilizing Project founding member Todd Wolfson is interested in the role that media and communications can play in helping build movements to end poverty.

He hasn’t been the only one.

In 2007, MMP was awarded a $150,000 grant from the Knight News Foundation. With that money, the media organization has been helping other organizations use journalism to further their cause.

Since then, Wolfson and his team have helped create a network of 10 groups, like the Philadelphia Student Union, Pennsylvania Head Start Association, Casino-Free Philadelphia, Taxi Workers Alliance of PA and other service sector unions.

MMP’s aim is straight forward enough: teach the basics of new media concepts in order to help those groups get the good word out.

The grant helped MMP maintain a staff, create six six-week workshops to train organization leaders in Web, video and basic computer skills and purchase equipment and computers for each group’s respective community.

Now, Media Mobilizing is shifting gears.
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