Philly Eater editor Ernest Owens out amid major company restructuring
What’s to become of Eater’s Philadelphia edition?
Ernest Owens said he has accepted a buyout from the national food site Eater, for which he has edited the Philadelphia edition since mid-2023. This will be his last week in the role, he said.
The move comes as parent company Vox Media announced a round of layoffs that will lead to a restructuring of Eater as well as PS (formerly Pop Sugar) and Thrillist.
Industry sources say that the future of Eater’s coverage of Philadelphia and nearly two dozen other U.S. cities is unclear as the company awaits employees’ decisions on buyout offers. Adweek and other media-news sites quoted an internal memo by Vox chief executive Jim Bankoff that indicated that Eater is “reorganizing its cities coverage into a regional model in order to most efficiently serve its audience’s needs.”
A representative of Vox did not reply to a request for comment.
Only six weeks ago, Eater released an app to provide restaurant recommendations in more than 100 cities.
In a social-media statement, the Writers Guild of America East, which represents many Vox employees, said the unspecified number of laid-off journalists work on Eater’s Cities team. The union also said it was disappointed by Vox’s to “decimate” Thrillist, which the company had acquired less than three years ago.
Owens, in a social-media statement Thursday, said he had received “a very generous severance package.” He declined further comment.
Owens also is president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. a political writer at large for Philadelphia Magazine, on-air host for WURD radio, editorial adviser for the Philly Download, and adjunct professor at Community College of Philadelphia.
Besides Eater, current online outlets offering dedicated coverage of food news and restaurant themes in Philadelphia include The Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine, Philadelphia Weekly, Billy Penn, Edible Philly, PhillyBite, and Phillygrub. Other sites, including the Philadelphia Business Journal and PhillyVoice, carry restaurant articles. Previously, the city’s ecosystem included Grubstreet (now covering New York City) CityPaper (now defunct), and Thrillist (before Vox acquired it).