PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has announced it will publish its final edition and cease operations on May 3.
The Post-Gazette’s owner, Block Communications Inc., made the announcement Wednesday.
“Over the past 20 years, Block Communications has lost more than $350 million in cash operating the Post-Gazette,” the company stated in a release. “Despite those efforts, the realities facing local journalism make continued cash losses at this scale no longer sustainable.”
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Recent court decisions would require the newspaper to operate under a 2014 labor contract, BCI says. That imposes “outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism.”
“We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region,” the statement reads. “The Block family is proud of the service the Post-Gazette has provided to Pittsburgh for nearly a century and will exit with their dignity intact.”
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Post-Gazette workers had begun returning to work in November, after a three-year-long strike over contract issues.
Exactly a week ago, Pittsburgh City Paper announced it was ceasing operations in the new year, after 34 years in business. City Paper was owned by BCI subsidiary Cars Holding Inc.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the BCI’s attempt to change health insurance coverage for union workers.
The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh put out a long statement, saying in part, “Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh.”
“It’s a shock,” said Andrew Conte, managing director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. “This is something people have been talking about for a long time, but when it actually happens, it’s very different. I think the Post-Gazette closing feels like a seismic moment, not just for local news, but the entire region.”
A Ph.D. at Point Park and a former local newspaper reporter, Conte says the loss will be felt far beyond the newsroom.
“That kind of access to information builds social capital. It knits communities together, and with the Post-Gazette going away, that access will be diminished.”
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