Independent local news for Delaware's 302 — built by a working mechanic, for working folks.
No corporate owners. No outside money calling the shots. Just what happened, why it matters, and the people it's happening to — checked against the source before it ever reaches you.
I didn't start Team Murphy Media because I dreamed of being a newsman. I started it because I got tired of watching the news lie to people I love.
For years I watched it happen — the screaming panels, the breaking-news banner over nothing, the same story told two opposite ways depending on which channel you turned on. It wasn't news anymore. It was noise with a logo on it. Bullshit, drama, and politics dressed up as information. And people ate it up, because there was nothing else on the menu.
I complained about it like everybody else does. Then came the pandemic years.
Most outlets won't show you their numbers. Ours are right here, with the dates we pulled them — and they climb every week.
Everything below is free to read and watch. Different doors, same promise: if we can't verify it, we don't run it.
Delaware-first news three times a day — public safety, roads, weather, courts, and the stories the big outlets drive past. Every item checked against the agency, the court, or the official record first. If we can't verify it, we don't run it.
Our missing-and-endangered board. If they're missing in the 302, they're on our board until they're home — and when one comes home, we celebrate that just as loud.
The work we're proudest ofThe whole picture, free in your inbox — the Sunday Issue, the nightly 302 Daily Record, and the Morning Minute. Unfiltered, unbiased, common-sense news for the working man and woman.
Delaware true crime from the 1700s to today, told victim-first, one case at a time. Every case worked from the record — court files, archives, and the reporting of the day — never from rumor.
Built By Hand. Still Working. — the wonders ordinary people built that are still doing their job centuries later. And The Most Dangerous Places on Earth — the places where one wrong step is the whole story. Narrated in DJ's own voice.
Pick your lane — the daily news, the newsletter, the cases, or the shows. It all comes from the same desk in Smyrna.
A road closed. A parade coming up. A neighbor who did something worth celebrating. A story the big outlets drove right past. That's a news tip — and that's how half of what we run starts, with somebody in the 302 picking up the phone.
News tips come to DJ directly. Say as much or as little as you're comfortable with — we'll take it from there and check it against the source before anything runs.
Kent and New Castle County working folks who check us before they check the weather. Local people, reading local news, every single day — that's who your name sits in front of.
One business per category. When you buy your category, your competitor doesn't run. Your name is the only one in your line of work here.
Never inside a hard story. A sponsor's name never sits inside a missing-person or tragedy story. Sponsors stand in the newsletter and the good-news lanes, full stop.
Six-month minimum, every tier — because local advertising pays off over a season, not a weekend. One good customer can pay for your whole year.
Your name and logo lead the website and the Shop Talk Weekly newsletter with “presented by” billing — plus featured posts on the Facebook page every month.
Category ExclusiveYour logo, photo, and message in the newsletter, a featured spot on this page, and regular mentions on the Facebook page.
Category ExclusiveYour business name, a one-line description of what you do, and a link — in every newsletter issue and on this page, every day.
Why six months? We'd rather sell you something that works than something that expires. Talk it over with DJ — he'll tell you straight whether it's a fit.
The Still Missing 302 wall doesn't run itself. It's checked against hundreds of official sources three times a day, every day — and it stays up, free, for every family in the 302 who needs it. The news stays free too. Always.
The people below make that possible. They're not customers — we don't sell anything. They're the reason a mother in Dover can find her daughter's face here without a paywall in the way. They're heroes of the 302 — and this is their wall too.
The backbone. The wall, plus the Sunday Issue in your inbox Saturday night — a day before everybody else.
Become a supporterAll of that, plus the full Daily Record archive and a monthly behind-the-desk note from DJ.
Become a supporterThe top of the wall. Everything above, and your name read with thanks in the Sunday Issue. Nothing on this site will ever cost more than this.
Become a supporterNo t-shirts. No blankets. No cheap memorabilia with our logo on it. Your support doesn't need a trinket to prove it matters — it helps bring children home. That's worth more than anything we could put in an envelope, a bag, or a box.
Supporter sign-up is open — pick your spot on the wall above. One-time support keeps the lights on too:
DJ Murphy — diesel mechanic by day, newsroom by night. Smyrna, Delaware.
Team Murphy Media is built by DJ Murphy — a full-time Casella Waste diesel mechanic in Smyrna, Delaware, who turns wrenches all day and builds this at night and on weekends.
It started in the fall of 2026 with a simple problem: the 302 deserved local news that shows its work. No newsroom, no investors, no corporate parent — one working man, a wall of official sources, and a promise.
That's the whole business plan. Cover Delaware like it matters — because to the people who live here, it does — and let the work earn the audience.