George Norcross Back in Journalism With the Philly Voice

The local news startup is hiring, and it's bringing back the old Philly.com brain trust.

Less than six months since he was outbid for the company that owns the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com, it looks like South Jersey powerhouse George Norcross is ready to jump back into the oh-so-lucrative game of local journalism, joining BillyPenn.com and the maybe-one-day-it-will-happen, Ajay Raju-backed Philadelphia Citizen in the field of Philadelphia news startups.

The name of Norcross’ upcoming venture is The Philly Voice, and three former Philly.com talents, Leah Kauffman, Robert McGovern and Matt Romanoski are on board.

Kaufmann had the following to say on Facebook on Thursday morning:

Dear Friends,

I am ecstatic to announce that I have joined the editorial team of PhillyVoice as the Executive Editor of Lifestyle & Entertainment. While I’m not able to share too many particulars at this time, PhillyVoice.com promises to be a compelling digital media outlet for the Philadelphia area.

We are in the process of assembling a team of hardworking and enthusiastic journalists and digital professionals. Feel free to peruse and share our list of currently open positions. http://www.phillyvoice.com

I look forward to sharing more updates with you as they become available.

McGovern sent an email message announcing his role this morning:

Family, friends and former colleagues,

I am so excited to announce that I’ve joined the team at the PhillyVoice. I can’t talk about the details yet, but this new and exciting project will launch soon. Meanwhile, we’re trying to assemble the best digital media team in the region. Know somebody who fits the bill? Please have them look at the more than 20 job openings we have available here.

See you on the web soon!

Romanoski’s Facebook lists him as Executive Sports Editor at PhillyVoice.

An executive at one of Norcross’ South Jersey companies registered the domain back in August, and this week, the link started making the rounds on social media.

Here’s how the Philly Voice describes itself on its website:

PhillyVoice is a well-funded media startup serving the Philadelphia and South Jersey region. We are focused on producing top-quality staff content, great freelance content and aggregated content. We are assembling an extremely experienced, fresh thinking, creative and collaborative team of digital journalists and business professionals.

The Philly Voice is doing all kinds of hiring, from copy editor to managing editor to sports reporter, which may be good news for all those unemployed journalists out there.

Norcross could not immediately be reached for comment.

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