Nonprofit led by veteran journalist David Greene to acquire LNP | LancasterOnline

• By Jeff Hawkes/For LNP | LancasterOnline

Editor’s note: This story was reported and edited by independent journalists commissioned by LNP | LancasterOnline. Jeff Hawkes, a veteran reporter and columnist who retired from LNP | LancasterOnline in 2020 after 42 years, reported and wrote this story. David DeKok, an author and former investigative reporter for The Patriot-News/PennLive in Harrisburg, edited this story. LNP | LancasterOnline copy editors ensured this story met the news organization’s standards for clarity, grammar and adherence to Associated Press style.

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A new nonprofit led by journalist and former National Public Radio host David Greene will assume ownership of LNP | LancasterOnline as a gift from current owner Pennon, a transfer that opens the door to philanthropic and charitable giving to bolster local news reporting, it was announced today.

The transfer, subject to approval by the state Attorney General’s office, could happen by month’s end.

Readers and advertisers won’t see immediate changes, but Always Lancaster, the new nonprofit’s name, will consider changes to staffing and the seven-days-a-week print-publication schedule.

Greene, a 1994 McCaskey High School graduate best known for co-hosting NPR’s Morning Edition for nearly a decade, said his aim is to keep quality journalism viable in Lancaster County. He wants to replicate the nonprofit model that has thrived in cities as different as Baltimore and Salt Lake City.

“We’re going to be building something really special in Lancaster,” Greene said in an interview by video call.

Meanwhile, Pennon will continue operating WITF, which serves a 19-county region in central Pennsylvania.

In June 2023, Steinman Communications gifted LNP Media Group to WITF, the Dauphin County-based public broadcaster. (A year later, Pennon became the name of the nonprofit overseeing both news outlets.) LNP Media Group, the publisher of a daily newspaper, two weekly newspapers and a news website, remained a for-profit public-benefit corporation reliant on advertising and subscriptions for revenue. Public-benefit corporations, or “B corps,” are those committed to a public benefit beyond profit.

Running a daily newspaper became “a challenge that I don’t think we fully appreciated,” Leigh Horner, Pennon board chair, said in an interview. Having to cut staff and shrink the news hole to manage costs, Pennon began to explore exit strategies that ranged from restructuring to filing for bankruptcy.

Enter Greene, currently host of the syndicated public radio program Left, Right & Center. He saw how founding Always Lancaster could combine his fondness for Lancaster, where he spent part of his childhood, with a zeal for a journalism that seeks to bridge America’s ideological divide.

Greene pitched his idea to Pennon in August. Horner said the transfer of LNP to Always Lancaster seemed like the option with “the best chance of success.” It allows the new nonprofit to champion sustainable journalism in Lancaster County while Pennon focuses on its original mission of providing public media to the wider region.

Under the ownership change, Pennon’s recently ratified two-year contract with NewsGuild of Philadelphia, the union representing 53 LNP journalists, will continue to be honored, Greene and Horner said. The contract provides for a $50,700 starting wage, 3% raises next July, a more affordable health plan, and severance pay in the event of layoffs. Management was informing staff of the ownership change shortly before this story posted online.

Bill Ross, NewsGuild of Pennsylvania executive director, reacted positively to the ownership change, saying he got confirmation from Pennon’s labor counsel that Always Lancaster will honor the collective bargaining agreement.

“We are optimistic to meet with Mr. Greene, who is a very well-respected journalist, and to work in partnership to make this new non-profit enterprise the best in the region,” Ross said.

“I listened to David Greene growing up and really admire his resume and experience,” said Tom Lisi, LNP’s county issues reporter and a member of the union negotiating team. “His background is exactly what we need, and I hope he comes with cool, creative ideas on how to go forward.”

Lisi, who helped negotiate the newsroom’s first union contract earlier this year, said he takes management at its word that the contract will be honored under the new ownership.

Michael Long, an LNP deputy editor and Lancaster County native, said Greene’s Lancaster roots may give him insights into “what matters to people who live here.”

He added that the shift to a nonprofit model will be “a rubber meets the road moment for our organization” as donors and philanthropists open their checkbooks or not.

“I do think we will find a way to thrive in the nonprofit space. I think our value is real and I think the community will bear that out,” Long said.

Mary Ellen Wright, a deputy team leader for LNP’s Work & Play reporting team, said she’s excited to reconnect with Greene, who she met 30 years ago when she was a reporter for Lancaster’s Sunday News and he started as a summer intern.

“I’ve been a big fan of David’s work since the first day he walked into our newsroom as a Harvard student — through his years covering the White House, as a foreign correspondent, as a public radio and podcast host and as a documentary filmmaker,” Wright said in an email.

“I know, firsthand, David’s dedication to Lancaster County and to local news, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how he will help steer our news organization through these challenging times,” she said.

Greene’s immediate task is to recruit a publisher, which will allow him to serve as board president of Always Lancaster. Meanwhile, LNP general manager Chris Fidler is serving as interim president. Executive editor Tom Murse continues to lead the newsroom.

High on Greene’s to-do list is forming a community advisory panel and launching a listening campaign to improve trust.

“In these political times, rebuilding trust in local, community-based journalism is absolutely essential,” he said. “I want to lead the way in building a model for that here in Lancaster.”

Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons, a Republican who has held the office since 2016, said in an email he wishes Greene the best, but added he has “a big job ahead of him in rebuilding community trust.”

“I have always said that a local newspaper is important to our county and that if any community could sustain one, it would be Lancaster County,” Parsons said. “But over the last decade, LNP has worked relentlessly to destroy trust with the regular citizens who formerly got the newspaper. LNP did this through endlessly pushing misleading and false narratives in the service of a political agenda.”

“Perhaps Mr. Greene can save (LNP),” Parsons added, “but it will take the courage to make big changes and reintroduce objective, ethical standards into the organization.”

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, a Republican who has represented Lancaster County since 2017, called Greene’s pursuit of trust “a real opportunity to turn this organization around and build a local media company that our community can support.”

“However, one thing is clear — the current values of the editors at LNP | LancasterOnline are at odds with the community they serve,” Smucker said. “And that disconnect has manifested itself in the red ink on the balance sheet.”

State Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El, a Democrat who serves parts of Lancaster city and Lancaster Township, said he hopes the ownership change means LNP will continue to cover such issues as housing affordability and school funding that matter to his constituents.

And he said having a journalist leading the nonprofit aligns with his pro-labor perspective that “workplaces should be run by people who understand what the work is about.”

“By and large, the folks at LNP do pretty good work,” Smith-Wade-El said. “Some media outlets need a hard internal look about the information they provide to the American people and their accountability to journalistic ethics, but LNP is not top of mind when I think of what those outlets are.”

General manager Fidler said she welcomes the move to nonprofit status and the chance to add charitable dollars to the revenue mix. She said she looks forward to LNP someday featuring an innovative digital platform attractive to readers of all ages and a revenue stream that allows for expanded reporting.

Editor Murse said philanthropy has allowed nonprofits in Baltimore and Salt Lake City to add reporters.

“Doing good journalism is not inexpensive,” Murse said, but philanthropic dollars could be the key to more thorough Lancaster County coverage.

In an email, The Steinman Foundation, the philanthropic initiative of the family that until 2023 owned LNP, wished Greene well without mentioning future financial support.

“The Steinman Foundation and David Greene have worked together successfully on several impactful initiatives,” said MarieClaire Egbert, the foundation’s communications director. “Mr. Greene also served on the boards of LNP Media Group and the Steinman Institute for Civic Engagement, giving him insight into what is possible as well and the challenges that lie ahead.”

Timeline

1794: The Lancaster Journal is launched from an office in a tavern at 8 W. King St.

1840: Newspaper moves across the street

1866: A.J. Steinman becomes owner of the then-Lancaster Intelligencer, which had its offices at 8 S. Queen St.

1905: A.J. Steinman and his nephew, Charles Steinman Folz, buy the two-story building at 8 W. King St. and move the Intelligencer there the next year.

1927: Building at 8 W. King is torn down and a new five-story building for the newspaper is constructed in its place.

1985: Top-to-bottom renovation of the building, which was expanded into 12-14 W. King St.

2019: Steinman Communications announces plans to sell 8 W. King St. and move to 101 N. Queen St.

June 2023: Steinman Communications donates LNP Media Group to WITF. Ceremony marking the handover is attended by Beverly R. “Peggy” Steinman, chairman emeritus of Steinman Communications and granddaughter of A.J. Steinman.

September 2025: LNP Media Group announces plans to vacate 101 N. Queen St. by the end of October.

December 2025: A new nonprofit, Always Lancaster, led by journalist and former National Public Radio host David L. Greene will assume ownership of LNP | LancasterOnline as a gift from current owner Pennon.