The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will shut down on May 3 after nearly 240 years of operation, the company announced Wednesday. This is tragic for those who live in the communities of Pittsburgh and who should be able to have numerous independent, useful sources of local information, news and opinions.
It’s a tragedy for the journalists who, amid an almost unthinkable labor feud, have been thwarted from providing service to the people of Pittsburgh. Be it strong editorial writing, coverage of the Steelers and the Pirates or the incredible Pulitzer-winning coverage of the horrible mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, the Post-Gazette has been an essential part of the fabric of Pittsburgh.
The journalists and the Block family can and should take enormous pride in their service to Pittsburgh. As the owners of an independent news organization, we at Poynter deeply appreciate what that takes. We are also heartbroken to see local, family ownership be unable to continue in providing local news. Nelson Poynter used to say that every community deserves a newspaper that loves it best.
Lastly, I don’t believe this announcement should be so easily conflated with the narrative of loss that too often defines the local news business environment. Yes, metro papers face particular and at times steep climbs in gaining the audience and revenue needed to pay for journalism. But the situation in Pittsburgh has been a tumultuous hot mess for years and the erratic nature of the ownership family in grappling with its labor issues has been well documented. So like with most good journalism stories, the reality isn’t easily pegged, and we shouldn’t buy into tropes or convenient conclusions.
For many years now, local TV, public media and digital news sites have innovated or pushed through difficult business pressures to continue to find ways to serve audiences. And most communities the size of Pittsburgh still have credible independent sources of news and advertising. I’m hopeful that other publishers and media entities and some newcomers will emerge to provide more good and trusted local information in Pittsburgh.