WHYY Pop-Up Newsroom draws about 75 to share story pitches at Philadelphia City Hall

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About 75 people visited Philadelphia City Council chambers during a five-hour pop-up newsroom hosted by WHYY News. Monday’s event was designed to give residents an opportunity to share story ideas with WHYY journalists and editors.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., about a dozen reporters, editors and other staff, including WHYY President and CEO Bill Marrazzo, spent time meeting with residents who came out to see the newsroom in action.

Visitors spent one-on-one time with journalists, explaining stories they wanted covered on a community and regional basis, ranging from the environment, transportation, government and more. Reporters will explore those issues for possible coverage, which will eventually be published on Billy Penn, PlanPhilly, WHYY News and aired on WHYY-FM.

Among those in attendance was Janis Tosto of Germantown, who was concerned about the potential loss of SEPTA service that she rides on a daily basis.

She inquired about how people would cope with the potential loss of bus, train and trolley services if the state funding necessary to keep the transit agency running did not materialize.

Danielle Abrams, who lives in East Passyunk, brought her one-year-old daughter to the event to talk about child care, and how she is struggling to manage working and caring for her child. She hopes for the passage of legislation proposed by state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler that would help working parents manage their work and parenthood responsibilities.

Soma Banik is a biotechnology advocate who came out to discuss the impact of the medical and education industries on the Philadelphia economy and their importance to the region as a whole.

City tour guide Rich Armandi stopped by to talk about the need for public restrooms and clearer signage in the city so that people, especially tourists, can navigate Philadelphia without issues.

Other story suggestions included one man who said the city should prohibit gas stations from filling up ATVs at the pump to discourage them from running on city streets, while another advocated for the city to revive the shuttered Philadelphia History Museum at Atwater Kent. After getting lots of attention during the debate over the 76ers arena plans in Center City, others wanted more focus on the topic of councilmanic prerogative, the practice whereby council members can prevent development within their district just by their declining to introduce development legislation.

WHYY’s next pop-up newsroom event will take place at the Princeton Public Library on Wednesday, July 30. Another event at City Hall is being planned for the fall.