Phil Heron Is Stepping Down From the Daily Times!
Stefan Roots
The only reason you are reading this blog is because of Phil Heron, editor of the Delaware County Daily Times, who is leaving the paper on Friday, April 17, after 38 years. I knew very little about what a blog was before Phil put out a call in 2010 for people interested in joining the paper’s digital media lab. The Daily Times selected people from across the county to represent their town, then set them up with a blog, some resources, and free pizza at the monthly get togethers.
I raised my hand and asked if I could represent Chester. Almost immediately, he told me to send the name of my blog, a bio, and a headshot. Just for fun, I sent him CCityblogger. Ten minutes later there was a blog created named CCityblogger, with a URL and a password.
At that time, I had been publishing the Chester Spotlight paper for about four years and was getting tired of it. City government was trying to shut it down anyway, bringing a different paper, the Chester Spirit, to the city.
Trying this blog thing was my out.
I didn’t know anything about blogging when I started. I had never read one, let alone written one. I thought a blogger was a Black-logger. But I figured it out fast. My very first post was titled “Chester is Trashy.” Phil Heron sent me an email right after it published and said, “That is a great post. You’re going to do well. Keep it up.” And that I did.
Phil Heron. Photo via Twitter.
Phil was like my big brother in the newspaper business. I watched him run the Daily Times when I worked there, and it was clear to me Phil knew what he was doing and how to get the most out of his staff. I was one of the first let go in a wave of departures that has finally reached the top guy. I’ve often said, I don’t know how they put out a paper every day when they have less than 20% of the staff they had when I worked there. It’s only because of Phil they could pull it off.
How they’re going to run the Daily Times without him remains to be seen.
I’ve been telling Chester people who hate how the Daily Times covers Chester’s crimes but rush to send press releases and trash pick-up notices — all while begging Times reporters to come cover their stories and present them in a good light — that a Daily Times without Phil will not have the same regard for Chester as it does now.
All of Delaware County is going to take a blow with a diminished Delaware County Daily Times. There might be someone out there who can run the business well, but there’s no one on the bench who has anywhere close to Phil’s knowledge of the county, its people, its history, its nuance, its movers and shakers past and present. That’s why we read the paper.
The real question, is there another media outlet in the county ready to take over where the Daily Times leaves off? Does it matter to anyone? Are newspapers officially dead in Delco? Will we really have to count on Philly news outlets for our news from now on?
Next week, when Phil is sitting in his rocking chair having a smoke, drinking a coffee, listening to the birds chirp, and wishing the Phillies were on, what do you think he’ll be reading? Hopefully a best selling novel because the reality we’re being left with is not going to be pleasant.
Enjoy retirement, Phil. Gonna miss our calls, visits, and emails. I now have one fewer person to complain to about front page coverage. Thanks for all you’ve done for me.
Stefan
Read more from Stefan Roots on his Chester Matters blog and at stefanroots.com.
