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Danya Henninger

Journalist, Photographer, Philadelphian. Editorial director at Technical.ly.

Danya Henninger is a prominent journalist and entrepreneur based in Philadelphia. She currently serves as the Editorial Director at Technical.ly, a role she assumed in December 2023. In this position, she oversees a multi-market newsroom focused on tech and entrepreneurship across several U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Delaware, and Pittsburgh.123

Background and Experience

  • Journalistic Career: Henninger has extensive experience in journalism, previously working as the director and editor at Billy Penn, a local news startup affiliated with WHYY, Philadelphia's NPR affiliate. She led the growth of Billy Penn's newsletter to nearly 45,000 subscribers and developed a membership base of over 3,100 contributors.12
  • Food and Culture Writing: Before her role at Billy Penn, she was a food and beer writer, contributing to various local and national publications. She also served as editor-in-chief of The Drink Nation, an online magazine focused on beverages.23
  • Imagic Digital: Alongside her journalism career, Henninger co-owns Imagic Digital, a commercial photo-video firm she founded with her husband in 1997.23

Education and Skills

  • Education: Henninger studied biochemistry at Brown University from 1992 to 1995.3
  • Languages: She is proficient in English, French, and has elementary proficiency in German.3
  • Certifications: She holds certifications in managing high-conflict people, giving and receiving feedback, and communicating with emotional intelligence, among others.3

Community Involvement

  • Pen & Pencil Club: Henninger is a vice president on the board of governors for the Pen & Pencil Club, one of the nation's oldest press clubs.3
  • The Bullhorn Student News: She serves as a board member for this student-run newspaper, advising and collaborating to amplify student voices.3

Awards and Recognition

  • Editor of the Year: Henninger has received the "Editor of the Year" award from the Pen & Pencil Club multiple times.3

Overall, Danya Henninger is a versatile professional with a strong background in journalism, entrepreneurship, and community engagement.

Highlights

Aug 25 · linkedin

ISO fall interns at Technical.ly! Preference given to college students in one of our markets — Baltimore, DC, Delaware, Philly, Pittsburgh — but open to anyone throughout the US interested in local journalism, innovation economies, and news sustainability.

Details: I'm hiring a social media intern: https://lnkd.in/eGA2q4We

McKenzie Morgan is hiring a product intern: https://lnkd.in/eEJbSSGC

Accepting applications on a rolling basis through early Sept; the sooner you apply the better.

Apr 28 · linkedin

Mini polemic: The future of news is independent startups. They don't have to be nonprofits.

This article is a deep dive into a pioneering local news site, The Lens, which has done great things for its New Orleans community (shoutout Ariella Cohen!) and is now seeking a post-founder path forward.

But included in the Poynter Institute piece is a drumbeat and entire section dedicated to something I've increasingly noticed in the "save journalism" world: a fetishization of nonprofit status.

There's a difference between companies snapping up failing newspapers in hopes of wringing cash out of a dying advertising model and intrepid publishers plunging into the waters of local reporting by launching online outlets in news deserts across the country. The latter are not out to make a buck — without any proven business model, local journalism is not the industry to enter if that's your goal! — but to help people stay informed. As Christopher Wink puts it, to use storytelling to help communities reach a closer approximation of their truth.

True: Nonprofit news outlets don't have a single owner and so aren't subject to whims of any particular rich baron. But they're also more complicated to organize and run. It's great that INN membership has skyrocketed over the past decade (the org counted 431 members last year, per this article). But so has the number of for-profit news sites. In 2022, two-thirds of LION: Local Independent Online News Publishers' 475+ members were for-profit.

The lionization of nonprofit as the answer to the collapse of the newspaper industry and hedge-fundification of legacy print outlets is not only inaccurate to what's happening on the ground, it's also detrimental to the public perception and fundraising efforts of for-profit sites.

Support local news done by good journalists. Don't worry so much about their tax status.

Related Questions

What are Danya Henninger's main responsibilities as Editorial Director at Technical.ly?
How did Danya Henninger's experience at Billy Penn prepare her for her role at Technical.ly?
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How does Danya Henninger integrate her background in photography into her journalism career?
What are Danya Henninger's goals for Technical.ly's journalism in the next few years?
Danya Henninger
Danya Henninger, photo 1
Danya Henninger, photo 2
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Location

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States