The Philadelphia Media Market is not limited to Philadelphia, nor even to Pennsylvania. It stretches as far north as the edge of the Lehigh Valley, east across the Delaware encompassing much of South Jersey, south to the edge of Wilmington, and west to the fringes of Amish country. It reaches the eyes and ears of millions in eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and southern New Jersey. It influences politics and elections in three states, and reports on topics vital to the local economy and politics. As with much in Philadelphia, it is compared unfavorably to New York City's media market, and is thought to lack the political impact of the DC media market. But in that comes a measure of freedom. The lack of national scrutiny and the enormous audience make it an excellent test market for new ideas, for better or for worse.
It is home to four major newspapers and countless smaller journals and imprints. There are dozens of terrestrial broadcast stations in reach of its homes. Endless local journals, small town papers, trade magazines, and cable stations clutter the airwaves and news paper racks of local gas stations. It's a constant battle for the attention of the public, most of whom just want to watch the game on Sunday.
Rules and System
Status in the Media circus of the Philadelphia Market is about reach and about access. It's about the stories you can bring to print or screen, and the ones you can make go away. With a flash of your credentials you can breach the guarded gates of the region's government and its elites. It can bring you before the rich and famous, earn you the trust of the poor and the hungry, and amplify your opinions and agenda to the eyes and ears of millions.
Status 1: Blogger with an Audience, Beat Reporter, Staff Writer
Status 2: Columnist, Desk Reporter
Status 3: Editor, Pulitzer Nominee, Talking Head
Status 4: News Anchor, Editor of a Major Paper, International Reporter
Status 5: National Anchor, National Reporter, Pulitzer Prize Winner, Media Mogul
Joining the Sphere
Anyone can acquire Media Status either during character creation or while in play. It is necessary to consider what publication or news corporation you are working for, and in what capacity. If you're interested in having reporters under your thumb, Allies would reflect this better than Media Status. If, on the other hand, you wanted to own a media outlet outright without producing any copy yourself, this would then apply. This is less about your personal gravitas, as that would be reflected in the Fame merit. It's about the reputation of your organization and the power and access your position within it grants you.
While there are no requirements for joining, the following stats are suggested:
Attributes: Presence or Manipulation
Skills: Investigation, Expression, Subterfuge, Persuasion, and Politics.
Merits: Contacts, Allies, Fame
Theme and Society
There is a perception in American life that is now starting to diminish that the media are and ought to be nonpartisan objective arbiters of truth. Philadelphia's papers have, since their very beginning, been a hotbed of partisan thought, vitriol and invective, and sometimes even of open hostility. As major corporations have slowly bought out local stations and corporate talking points have begun to leach into the copy read by local anchors, that perception has been fading into the fond remembrance of history. Edward R Murrow and Walter Cronkite are both dead and buried, their legacies having faded into fairytales. Oh, the media can still influence perception. That's still the case. It's simply that the influence it exerts is now bought and paid for by corporate interests. Only a few bastions of truth remain out there, and they are under constant attack by those who view every issue as having two sides: the one they want told, and the one you won't tell.
Everyone is in on it. Politicians of all parties, government officials, the police, society figures; all of them use the media to get their viewpoints out there, and all of them know that the right amount of money can make it so that view is never questioned when presented. There are still decent people in the business, and decent publications and organizations fighting the good fight.
