By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net
Effective today, Big Trial's moving to substack.com.
Why? Since Big Trial lost its sponsor seven years ago, I've been doing this blog pro bono.
And every year, not only has the workload steadily increased, but in my opinion, so has the need for this type of reporting.
Using the courts as a base of operations, Big Trial provides an independent voice in the local media by doing some essential muckraking, asking the tough questions, and always insisting on holding public officials accountable.
It's become indispensable journalism, I would argue, in a city that for the past two years has been setting historic records for shootings, murders and carjackings. City Council members who are still afraid to meet in public -- they only meet on Zoom -- openly admit that Philadelphia has descended into a state of lawlessness. And become a place where every day, armed and violent criminals brazenly go about their business, with no fear of consequences.
Against this desperate backdrop, our only daily newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, where I once worked, continues to function as the official house organ of the Democratic Party that's controlled City Hall for the past 70 years, while shilling for the "progressive" leaders who have run Philadelphia into the ground.
At Big Trial, we do things differently. We aren't PC, we don't suffer fools gladly, and we don't believe in sacred cows.
What does the move to Substack mean for readers? Instead of getting Big Trial for free, now you'll have to pay $5 a month, which at Subbstack, is their lowest subscription rate. I hate having to ask people for money, but in a city that's in crisis, it's the cost to preserve independent journalism.
So consider this my invitation to readers to follow me over to
Substack, where we'll continue to shine a bright light on the dark place that Philadelphia has become.