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From Metropolis to Minneapolis: Making the Daily Planet a reality

The Daily Planet is moving to Minneapolis in an effort to establish our multimedia organization as a real news source.

2 mins read

The Daily Planet will be making the big leap from farm to city in our upcoming move to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

For the past six years the Daily Planet, better known as @DailyPlanetDC, has been publishing out of rural northern Minnesota and Duluth.

@DailyPlanetDC grew into a multimedia site in 2018 in Duluth after developing over social media in 2014 on my family’s farm. The site was launched by Brianna Taggart, Addie Marzinske and myself as a project for a journalism toolbox course at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

The site has since grown, retaining a constant flow of articles, commentaries and exclusives by talented content contributors from all around the world.  

Each writer, podcaster, commentator, artist and more have helped develop this young news organization into a global community paper. That’s astounding and I can’t express my love and gratitude enough to each and every member of our team, past and present. 

As the founding editor-in-chief of this real-world interpretation of the Daily Planet, I’ve decided that Minneapolis would serve as an indelible home for our budding publication. 

I’ve been a Minnesota resident all my life and always dreamt of living in the “Twin-Cities” metro region. As I grew older, my dream advanced further — I wanted to make the world a better place through truth, just like my favorite two heroes Lois and Clark. 

Reading, watching, and absorbing any form of Superman media always reminded me of why I wanted to achieve this dream. There are so many stories that need to be told in this world, and many often go unheard, and the stories of Minneapolis, an urban center for life and culture, are no exception. 

In comics, the Daily Planet has always stood against tyranny and injustice, and it was inspiring. This fabled paper was housed in a weathered, downtown Metropolis brownstone high-rise building with an enormous golden globe on its rooftop, and every citizen knew what the ringed sculpture in the sky represented — truth and justice. 

This classic symbol of bygone art-deco ideals housed a towering ambition to capture moments, record history, and serve as a witness for the human experience. Each reporter, editor, photographer, printing press operator, publisher, news carrier and more all strived for excellence. They did not only report the news, they strived for a better world by exposing the evil in it.

This is the ultimate dream. Working among heroic individuals all chronicling the history of the globe. We aim to strive to pursue accountability with journalistic integrity and courage of our convictions. The Planet hopes to make a positive impact in both the concrete world and the virtual landscape by inspiring and moving our readers. 

The Daily Planet seeks not to be opinion-based, but fact-founded. All of our reports will be supported by  first-hand accounts and unwavering documentation, empowering the citizens of the world with information for greater civic awareness and agency. We strive to be ethical, responsible and as scrupulous as possible.

This is the mission that I have been building since I was little. This is what I’ve pitched to DC Entertainment, the current copyright owners of the name “The Daily Planet” or “The Metropolis Daily Planet.” 

In early 2021, I pitched a proposal to WarnerMedia about our publication using the moniker with their permission. The proposal was temporarily rejected and we were urged to try again after six months, or after the planned merger with Discovery. As that marker approaches, I grow more eager to achieve this dream. 

Since 1938, Superman has been inspiring generations, and since 1940, when the Daily Star was renamed the Daily Planet by Joe Shuster and Jerry Seigel, the Planet that chronicled Superman’s fantastic adventures has inspired countless journalists. Since 2018, I have been organizing a virtual community of reporters under The Daily Planet banner. 

Here’s to our next adventure. 

Zack Benz

Zack Benz has been a fan of the Daily Planet since he was eight years old. The Daily Planet has always been a beacon of hope for him and it’s his life’s mission to make it shine in a similar light to so many around the world. Zack graduated with a degree in journalism and art from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2019.

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