The Incline was an online newspaper focused on the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region. Launched in 2016, the news outlet curated syndicated content[2] and produced original stories aimed towards millennials.[3] Instead of ads, The Incline's revenue came from events. The best known of which was their "Who's next" event series.[4] In March 2019, The Incline was acquired by WhereBy.Us.[1] In June 2023, the Incline ceased all operations.[5]
Spirited Media founded Philadelphia's web-only local news site Billy Penn in 2014. Billy Penn functions as a mixture of links to news articles produced by other outlets with its own original reporting mixed in.[6] Rather than direct ad sales, Billy Penn found success with an event-based business model. Spirited Media looked for new cities to deploy it in.[7] In 2016, Pittsburgh was identified as the second city after major investments came from Gannett.[8] The Incline deviated from Billy Penn, by selling ads upon its introduction in order to gain exposure and awareness.[2]
The Incline was launched in September 2016. The news outlet was named after the Duquesne Incline.[9] Because of the presence of Silicon Valley companies working with Carnegie Mellon University and the absence of a tech business website in Pittsburgh, the Incline focused more on technology news compared to its Philadelphia counterpart.[10] The Incline was also experimented on curation of news based on the moods of their readers.[2]
Awards and recognition
The Incline won the award for the “Biggest blockbuster story” at the Hearken's 2018 Champions of Curiosity Awards.[11] The Incline obtained recognition in multiple categories from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania at the 54th Golden Quill Awards.[12] The Incline won an award from the 30th Anniversary Vann Media Awards for their coverage of business news.[13]
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