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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the Pittsburgh Gazette, established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains, the paper formed under its present title in 1927 from the consolidation of the Pittsburgh Gazette Times and The Pittsburgh Post.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The November 2, 2018 front page
of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Block Communications
PublisherJohn Robinson Block
PresidentTracey DeAngelo
EditorStan Wischnowski
Founded1786; 237 years ago (1786) (as The Pittsburgh Gazette)
Headquarters358 North Shore Drive
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15212
CountryUnited States
Circulation74,444 Daily 101,747 Sunday
ISSN1068-624X
Websitewww.post-gazette.com

The Post-Gazette ended daily print publication in 2018 and has cut down to two print editions per week (Sunday and Thursday), going online-only the rest of the week.

In the 2010s, the editorial tone of the paper shifted from liberal to conservative, particularly after the editorial pages of the paper were consolidated in 2018 with The Blade of Toledo, Ohio. After the consolidation, Keith Burris, the pro-Trump editorial page editor of The Blade, directed the editorial pages of both papers.[1][2]

Early history

 
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Building in Downtown Pittsburgh, which housed the paper from 1962 to 2015.

Gazette

The Post-Gazette began its history as a four-page weekly called The Pittsburgh Gazette, first published on July 29, 1786, with the encouragement of Hugh Henry Brackenridge.[3][4] It was the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains.[3] Published by Joseph Hall and John Scull, the paper covered the start of the nation. As one of its first major articles, the Gazette published the newly adopted Constitution of the United States.[5]

In 1820, under publishers Eichbaum and Johnston and editor Morgan Neville, the name changed to Pittsburgh Gazette and Manufacturing and Mercantile Advertiser.[6] David MacLean bought the paper in 1822, and later reverted to the former title.[7]

Under editor Neville B. Craig, whose service lasted from 1829 to 1841, the Gazette championed the Anti-Masonic movement. Craig turned the Gazette into the city's first daily paper, issued every afternoon except Sunday starting on July 30, 1833.[8]

In 1844, shortly after absorbing the Advocate, the Gazette switched its daily issue time to morning.[9] Its editorial stance at the time was conservative and strongly favoring the Whig Party.[10] By the 1850s the Gazette was credited with helping to organize a local chapter of the new Republican Party, and with contributing to the election of Abraham Lincoln. The paper was one of the first to suggest tensions between North and South would erupt in war.[11]

After consolidating with the Commercial in 1877, the paper was again renamed and was then known as the Commercial Gazette.[12]

In 1900, George T. Oliver acquired the paper, merging it six years later with The Pittsburg Times to form The Gazette Times.[13]

Post

The Pittsburgh Post first appeared on September 10, 1842, as the Daily Morning Post.[14] It had its origin in three pro-Democratic weeklies, the Mercury, Allegheny Democrat, and American Manufacturer, which came together through a pair of mergers in the early 1840s.[15] The three papers had for years engaged in bitter editorial battles with the Gazette.[16]

Like its predecessors, the Post advocated the policies of the Democratic Party. Its political opposition to the Whig and later Republican Gazette was so enduring that an eventual combination of the two rivals would have seemed unlikely.[17]

 
Consolidation timeline

Block-Hearst deal

The 1920s were a time of consolidation in the long-overcrowded Pittsburgh newspaper market. In 1923, local publishers banded together to acquire and kill off the Dispatch and Leader. Four years later, William Randolph Hearst negotiated with the Olivers to purchase the morning Gazette Times and its evening sister, the Chronicle Telegraph, while Paul Block arranged to buy out the owner of the morning Post and evening Sun. After swapping the Sun in return for Hearst's Gazette Times, Block had both morning papers, which he combined to form the Post-Gazette. Hearst united the evening papers, creating the Sun-Telegraph. Both new papers debuted on August 2, 1927.[18]

Joint operating agreement

In 1960, Pittsburgh had three daily papers: the Post-Gazette in the morning, and the Pittsburgh Press and the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph in the evening and on Sunday. The Post-Gazette bought the Sun-Telegraph and moved into the Sun-Telegraph's Grant Street offices.[19]

The Post-Gazette tried to publish a Sunday paper to compete with the Sunday Press but it was not profitable; rising costs in general were challenging the company's bottom line.[20] In November 1961, the Post-Gazette entered into an agreement with the Pittsburgh Press Company to combine their production and advertising sales operations.[21] The Post-Gazette owned and operated its own news and editorial departments, but production and distribution of the paper was handled by the larger Press office.[21] This agreement stayed in place for over 30 years.[22]

The agreement gave the Post-Gazette a new home in the Press building, a comfortable upgrade from the hated "Sun-Telly barn".[23] Constructed for the Press in 1927 and expanded with a curtain wall in 1962, the building served as the Post-Gazette headquarters until 2015.[24]

Strike, consolidation, new competition

 
The distribution center

On May 17, 1992, a strike by workers for the Press shut down publication of the Press; the joint operating agreement meant that the Post-Gazette also ceased to publish.[25] During the strike, the Scripps Howard company sold the Press to the Block family, owners of the Post-Gazette.[22] The Blocks did not resume printing the Press, and when the labor issue was resolved and publishing resumed, the Post-Gazette became the city's major paper, under the full masthead name Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sun-Telegraph/The Pittsburgh Press.

The Block ownership did not take this opportunity to address labor costs, which had led to sale of the Press. This would come back to haunt them and lead to financial problems (see "Financial Challenges" below).

During the strike, publisher Richard Mellon Scaife expanded his paper, the Greensburg Tribune-Review, based in the county seat of adjoining Westmoreland County, where it had published for years. While maintaining the original paper in its facilities in Greensburg, he expanded it with a new Pittsburgh edition to serve the city and its suburbs. Scaife named this paper the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.[26] Scaife has invested significant amounts of capital into upgraded facilities, separate offices and newsroom on Pittsburgh's North Side and a state of the art production facility in Marshall Township north of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County. Relations between the Post-Gazette and Tribune-Review, during its existence as a local print publication, were often competitive and frequently hostile, given Scaife's longstanding distaste for what he considered the Blocks' liberalism.

On November 14, 2011, the Post-Gazette revived the Pittsburgh Press as an afternoon online newspaper.[27]

On February 12, 2014, the paper purchased a new distribution facility in suburban Findlay Township, Pennsylvania.[28]

In 2015, the paper moved into a new, state-of-the-art office building on the North Shore on a portion of the former site of Three Rivers Stadium, ending 53 years in the former Press building and more than two centuries in Downtown. Block Communications, feeling that the building is being greatly underutilized considering its proximity to Point State Park, still owns the building and plans to have the property redeveloped.[29]

On October 6, 2022, the advertising, distribution and production workers at the Post Gazette went on strike. On October 18, the newsroom workers joined the strike. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) also pursued a case against the paper charging unfair practices. As of January 6, 2023 the strike had not been settled and the NLRB case was pending before an administrative law judge. [30]

Partnerships and sponsorships

 
The Post-Gazette building in October 2015.

The newspaper sponsored a 23,000 seat outdoor amphitheater in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, the "Post-Gazette Pavilion", although it is still often referred to as "Star Lake", based on the original name, "Star Lake Amphitheater", and later "Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheater" under the former sponsor. They gave up naming rights in 2010.[31] First Niagara Bank, which had entered the Pittsburgh market the year before after acquiring National City branches from Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services,[32] took over the naming rights to the facility and is now known as the KeyBank Pavilion.[31]

The newspaper once had ventures in television. In 1957, the Post-Gazette partnered with the H. Kenneth Brennen family, local radio owners, to launch WIIC-TV (now WPXI) as the area's first full-time NBC affiliate.[33][34] The Post-Gazette and the Brennens sold off the station to current owner Cox Enterprises in 1964.[35] Although the Post-Gazette and WPXI have on occasion had some news partnerships, the Post-Gazette's primary news partner is now the local CBS owned-and-operated station KDKA-TV.

In 2019, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was a founding member of Spotlight PA, an investigative reporting partnership focused on Pennsylvania.[36]

Financial challenges

When John Craig handed editorial reign to David Shribman in 2003, Craig told Shribman that the paper was in terrible financial shape. It was around the time of Hanukkah, and Shribman quipped, "It seemed there was only enough oil in this newspaper to keep the light on for one year."[37]

In September 2006, the paper disclosed that it was experiencing financial challenges, largely related to its labor costs. The paper also disclosed it had not been profitable since printing had resumed in 1993. As a result of these issues, the paper considered a number of options, including putting the paper up for sale.[38] While deep concern about the paper's future ensued, negotiations proved fruitful and in February, 2007 the paper's unions ratified a new agreement with management mandating job cuts, changes in funding health care benefits and so forth.

In August 2018, the Post-Gazette ceased publishing daily.[39] It cut down to online editions on Tuesdays and Saturdays and print editions the remaining days of the week. In October 2019, the paper further reduced its paper editions to Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.[40] In March 2021, the paper cut down again, getting rid of the Friday edition.[41]

Controversies

Firing of cartoonist

In June 2018, the Post Gazette fired its long-time editorial cartoonist, Rob Rogers, a previous Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning finalist who had worked at the paper for 25 years,[42][43][44] having joined the paper in 1993[45] and worked under four supervising editors.[44] The firing came in the context of increasing support for President Donald Trump and political conservatism on the Post-Gazette editorial page.[42] Pittsburgh mayor William Peduto (who was both a friend of Rogers' and had been lampooned in his cartoons) called the paper's firing of Rogers "disappointing" and said it sent "the wrong message about press freedoms."[46][44] The firing was strongly criticized by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh[42] and the National Cartoonists Society.[44] The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists said in a statement: "It's as simple as this: Rogers was fired for refusing to do cartoons extolling Trump. Let that sink in."[43] The paper said that Rogers' dismissal "has little to do with politics, ideology or Donald Trump" but did not provide details.[44] Rogers wrote in the New York Times that the paper's new management had decided, in the lead-up to his firing, that his cartoons satirizing Trump "were 'too angry.'"[45] Rogers said that while editors had previously rejected (or "spiked") an average of two to three of his cartoons each year, under a new supervisor he had 19 cartoons or cartoon ideas killed in the first six months of 2018.[44]

Four months later after Rogers was fired, the Post-Gazette hired conservative editorial cartoonist Steve Kelley as Roger's replacement.[47] After being fired, Rogers' comics continued to be published through Andrews McMeel Syndication.[44] As a freelancer, Rogers was named as a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in editorial cartooning, with the committee citing his "provocative illustrations that channeled cultural and historical references with expert artistry and an eye for hypocrisy and injustice."[48]

Sanctioning of reporter amid George Floyd protests

In 2020, the Post-Gazette prohibited its reporter Alexis Johnson from covering the George Floyd protests.[49] The Post-Gazette said that Johnson, an African American, had shown bias by making a tweet that highlighted extensive littering from a Kenny Chesney concert tailgate. The pulling of Johnson from the story prompted an outcry from journalists, including the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and many of Johnson's Post-Gazette colleagues.[49]

Awards

Pulitzer Prizes

The Post-Gazette won Pulitzer Prizes in 1938, 1998, and 2019. Photographer Morris Berman maintained that the paper would have won a Pulitzer in 1964 but chose not to run his iconic Y. A. Tittle picture that he took at Pitt Stadium.[50] The photo would go on to win awards, hang in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, be used for the back cover of Tittle's autobiography and used in a Miller Beer High-Life commercial in 2005.

In 1938, Ray Sprigle won the Pulitzer Prize for Reporting for his investigation revealing that newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Staff photographer Martha Rial won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography for her photographs of Rwandan and Burundian refugees.

Photographer John Kaplan won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for a series of photo essays on 21-year-olds, which was published in the Post-Gazette and two other papers of the Block Newspapers group.[51] This award cited Block Newspapers rather than the Post-Gazette specifically.[52]

The Post-Gazette won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. The paper was praised for its "immersive, compassionate coverage."[53]

Other awards

In 1997 Bill Moushey won the National Press Club’s Freedom of Information Award on a series investigating the Federal Witness Protection Program and was a finalist for the Pulitzer.[54][55]

The Post-Gazette also won the Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council (RCC) in 2017 for religion editor Peter Smith's work, Silent Sanctuaries.[56] Smith, Stephanie Strasburg, and Shelly Bradbury were finalists for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for an investigation into sexual abuse in Pennsylvania's Amish and Mennonite communities.[57]

Politics

The Post-Gazette historically had a liberal editorial stance. However, it turned more conservative in the 2010s, especially following the 2018 consolidation of its editorial department with that of longtime sister newspaper The Blade of Toledo, Ohio — specifically, the appointment of The Blade's editorial page editor, Keith Burris (a frequent defender of Donald Trump), to become the Post-Gazette editorial page editor.[2] Burris assumed the additional position of executive editor of the Post-Gazette in 2019.[58] In 2020, the Post-Gazette endorsed Trump's reelection bid, the first time since 1972 that the paper had endorsed a Republican for president.[59]

See also

References

  1. ^ Winsor, Morgan (June 16, 2018). "Cartoonist fired for being critical of Trump: 'They've not silenced me". ABC News. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Lyons, Kim (June 15, 2018). "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Cartoonist Fired as Paper Shifts Right". The New York Times. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Andrews, p. 1.
  4. ^ "The Intellectual Life of Pittsburgh 1786–1836: II.: The Newspapers". Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine. Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. 14 (1). January 1931. from the original on September 24, 2014.
  5. ^ Andrews, p. 38.
  6. ^ Thomas, p. 42.
  7. ^ Thomas, p. 43.
  8. ^ Andrews, pp. 68, 70, 76, 88.
  9. ^ Andrews, pp. 122, 135; Pittsburgh Gazette (weekly ed.), March 8, 1844, p. 1, col. 1; Pittsburgh Morning Post, March 4, 1844, p. 2, col. 1.
  10. ^ Holt, Michael F. (1999). The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party. Oxfordshire, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195161045.
  11. ^ "About Us". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. from the original on September 8, 2006.
  12. ^ Thomas, p. 101.
  13. ^ Andrews, p. 245.
  14. ^ "About The Daily morning post". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Archived from the original on May 11, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  15. ^ Kehl, James A. (September–December 1948). "The Allegheny Democrat, 1833-1836". The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine. 31 (3–4): 73–74.
  16. ^ Andrews, p. 73.
  17. ^ Andrews, p. 292.
  18. ^ Andrews, p. 291.
  19. ^ Thomas, pp. 227–228.
  20. ^ Thomas, pp. 229–230.
  21. ^ a b Thomas, p. 231.
  22. ^ a b Thomas, pp. 295–296.
  23. ^ Thomas, pp. 232, 228.
  24. ^ Riely, Kaitlynn (October 25, 2013). "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette building district placed on National Register of Historic Places". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. from the original on October 27, 2013.
  25. ^ Thomas, pp. 281–283.
  26. ^ Thomas, p. 303.
  27. ^ Schooley, Tim (November 14, 2011). "Block brings back Pittsburgh Press in e-version". Pittsburgh Business Journal. American City Business Journals. from the original on May 31, 2016.
  28. ^ "Post-Gazette signs lease for printing plant and distribution center in Clinton". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Block Communications. February 12, 2014. from the original on February 22, 2014.
  29. ^ "Post-Gazette newsroom leaves history Downtown with move to North Side". post-gazette.com. from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  30. ^ McCann, Alex (January 6, 2023). "Striking Post-Gazette workers resume picketing". Pittsburgh Union Progress. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  31. ^ a b Mervis, Scott (February 8, 2010). "Burgettstown pavilion renamed First Niagara". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Block Communications. from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  32. ^ Olson, Thomas (April 8, 2009). "First Niagara Bank buys 57 National City Bank branches from PNC". TribLive. from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  33. ^ "WIIC-TV Pittsburgh Joins NBC-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting. Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications Inc. April 1, 1957. p. 7.
  34. ^ Thomas, pp. 236–237.
  35. ^ "A banner week in station sales" (PDF). Broadcasting. Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications Inc. September 7, 1964. p. 54 – via American Radio History.
  36. ^ "PennLive & The Patriot-News join Spotlight PA as founding partners". Spotlight PA. August 29, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
  37. ^ Gannon, Joyce (December 18, 2018). "Post-Gazette editor David Shribman to step down at end of the year". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  38. ^ Boselovic, Len (September 15, 2006). "Without labor deal, PG could be sold, owners say". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. from the original on March 10, 2007.
  39. ^ "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". brooklineconnection.com. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  40. ^ Fernandez, Bob (July 19, 2020). "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to cut print edition to 3 days". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  41. ^ Lindstrom, Natasha (January 13, 2021). "Post-Gazette reducing print edition to 2 days a week, cites plan to go all-digital". TribLive. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  42. ^ a b c "Statement on Rob Rogers". Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh. June 14, 2018.
  43. ^ a b "Statement: Rob Rogers fired". Association of American Cartoonists. June 15, 2018.
  44. ^ a b c d e f g Cavna, Michael (June 14, 2018). "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette fires anti-Trump cartoonist, and mayor says it sends 'wrong message about press freedoms'". Washington Post.
  45. ^ a b Rogers, Rob (June 15, 2018). "I Was Fired for Making Fun of Trump". The New York Times. New York City.
  46. ^ Statement by Mayor William Peduto on Cartoonist Rob Rogers, Office of the Mayor, City of Pittsburgh (June 14, 2018).
  47. ^ Cavna, Michael (October 23, 2018). "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette hires a new conservative cartoonist after the firing of a Trump critic". The Washington Post.
  48. ^ "The 2019 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Editorial Cartooning". Pulitzer Prize. April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  49. ^ a b Dalton, Andrew (June 6, 2020). "Shouts of solidarity for black reporter pulled from protests". Associated Press. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  50. ^ Thurber, Jon (June 21, 2002). "Morris Berman, 92; Tittle Photo Endures". Los Angeles Times. from the original on December 21, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  51. ^ "1992 Pulitzer Prize Winners and Their Works in Journalism and the Arts". The New York Times. April 8, 1992. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  52. ^ "Feature Photography". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  53. ^ "The 2019 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Breaking News Reporting". Pulitzer Prize. April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  54. ^ . Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  55. ^ . Point Park University. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  56. ^ "Wilbur Awards" (PDF). 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  57. ^ "The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Local Reporting". The Pulitzer Prizes. May 4, 2020.
  58. ^ Perkins, Lucy (February 18, 2019). "Post-Gazette Appoints Keith Burris to Top Editor Position". Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  59. ^ "The man and the record".

Bibliography and further reading

  • Andrews, J. Cutler (1936). Pittsburgh's Post-Gazette: The First Newspaper West of the Alleghenies. Boston: Chapman & Grimes. hdl:2027/mdp.39015011226290.
  • Thomas, Clarke M. (2005). Front-Page Pittsburgh: Two Hundred Years of the Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-4248-8.
  • . Newspapers First. March 31, 2006. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved March 1, 2007.
  • (PDF). BurrellesLuce. March 31, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 2, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2007.

External links

  • Official website
    • History of the Post-Gazette
    • Google News Archive microfilm archive 1927-2007
  • C-SPAN piece on the Post-Gazette

pittsburgh, post, gazette, also, known, simply, largest, newspaper, serving, metropolitan, pittsburgh, pennsylvania, descended, from, pittsburgh, gazette, established, 1786, first, newspaper, published, west, allegheny, mountains, paper, formed, under, present. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette also known simply as the PG is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Descended from the Pittsburgh Gazette established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains the paper formed under its present title in 1927 from the consolidation of the Pittsburgh Gazette Times and The Pittsburgh Post Pittsburgh Post GazetteThe November 2 2018 front pageof the Pittsburgh Post GazetteFormatBroadsheetOwner s Block CommunicationsPublisherJohn Robinson BlockPresidentTracey DeAngeloEditorStan WischnowskiFounded1786 237 years ago 1786 as The Pittsburgh Gazette Headquarters358 North Shore DrivePittsburgh Pennsylvania 15212CountryUnited StatesCirculation74 444 Daily 101 747 SundayISSN1068 624XWebsitewww wbr post gazette wbr comMedia of the United StatesList of newspapersThe Post Gazette ended daily print publication in 2018 and has cut down to two print editions per week Sunday and Thursday going online only the rest of the week In the 2010s the editorial tone of the paper shifted from liberal to conservative particularly after the editorial pages of the paper were consolidated in 2018 with The Blade of Toledo Ohio After the consolidation Keith Burris the pro Trump editorial page editor of The Blade directed the editorial pages of both papers 1 2 Contents 1 Early history 1 1 Gazette 1 2 Post 2 Block Hearst deal 3 Joint operating agreement 4 Strike consolidation new competition 5 Partnerships and sponsorships 6 Financial challenges 7 Controversies 7 1 Firing of cartoonist 7 2 Sanctioning of reporter amid George Floyd protests 8 Awards 8 1 Pulitzer Prizes 8 2 Other awards 9 Politics 10 See also 11 References 12 Bibliography and further reading 13 External linksEarly history Edit The Pittsburgh Post Gazette Building in Downtown Pittsburgh which housed the paper from 1962 to 2015 Gazette Edit The Post Gazette began its history as a four page weekly called The Pittsburgh Gazette first published on July 29 1786 with the encouragement of Hugh Henry Brackenridge 3 4 It was the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains 3 Published by Joseph Hall and John Scull the paper covered the start of the nation As one of its first major articles the Gazette published the newly adopted Constitution of the United States 5 In 1820 under publishers Eichbaum and Johnston and editor Morgan Neville the name changed to Pittsburgh Gazette and Manufacturing and Mercantile Advertiser 6 David MacLean bought the paper in 1822 and later reverted to the former title 7 Under editor Neville B Craig whose service lasted from 1829 to 1841 the Gazette championed the Anti Masonic movement Craig turned the Gazette into the city s first daily paper issued every afternoon except Sunday starting on July 30 1833 8 In 1844 shortly after absorbing the Advocate the Gazette switched its daily issue time to morning 9 Its editorial stance at the time was conservative and strongly favoring the Whig Party 10 By the 1850s the Gazette was credited with helping to organize a local chapter of the new Republican Party and with contributing to the election of Abraham Lincoln The paper was one of the first to suggest tensions between North and South would erupt in war 11 After consolidating with the Commercial in 1877 the paper was again renamed and was then known as the Commercial Gazette 12 In 1900 George T Oliver acquired the paper merging it six years later with The Pittsburg Times to form The Gazette Times 13 Post Edit The Pittsburgh Post first appeared on September 10 1842 as the Daily Morning Post 14 It had its origin in three pro Democratic weeklies the Mercury Allegheny Democrat and American Manufacturer which came together through a pair of mergers in the early 1840s 15 The three papers had for years engaged in bitter editorial battles with the Gazette 16 Like its predecessors the Post advocated the policies of the Democratic Party Its political opposition to the Whig and later Republican Gazette was so enduring that an eventual combination of the two rivals would have seemed unlikely 17 Consolidation timelineBlock Hearst deal EditThe 1920s were a time of consolidation in the long overcrowded Pittsburgh newspaper market In 1923 local publishers banded together to acquire and kill off the Dispatch and Leader Four years later William Randolph Hearst negotiated with the Olivers to purchase the morning Gazette Times and its evening sister the Chronicle Telegraph while Paul Block arranged to buy out the owner of the morning Post and evening Sun After swapping the Sun in return for Hearst s Gazette Times Block had both morning papers which he combined to form the Post Gazette Hearst united the evening papers creating the Sun Telegraph Both new papers debuted on August 2 1927 18 Joint operating agreement EditIn 1960 Pittsburgh had three daily papers the Post Gazette in the morning and the Pittsburgh Press and the Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph in the evening and on Sunday The Post Gazette bought the Sun Telegraph and moved into the Sun Telegraph s Grant Street offices 19 The Post Gazette tried to publish a Sunday paper to compete with the Sunday Press but it was not profitable rising costs in general were challenging the company s bottom line 20 In November 1961 the Post Gazette entered into an agreement with the Pittsburgh Press Company to combine their production and advertising sales operations 21 The Post Gazette owned and operated its own news and editorial departments but production and distribution of the paper was handled by the larger Press office 21 This agreement stayed in place for over 30 years 22 The agreement gave the Post Gazette a new home in the Press building a comfortable upgrade from the hated Sun Telly barn 23 Constructed for the Press in 1927 and expanded with a curtain wall in 1962 the building served as the Post Gazette headquarters until 2015 24 Strike consolidation new competition Edit The distribution center On May 17 1992 a strike by workers for the Press shut down publication of the Press the joint operating agreement meant that the Post Gazette also ceased to publish 25 During the strike the Scripps Howard company sold the Press to the Block family owners of the Post Gazette 22 The Blocks did not resume printing the Press and when the labor issue was resolved and publishing resumed the Post Gazette became the city s major paper under the full masthead name Pittsburgh Post Gazette Sun Telegraph The Pittsburgh Press The Block ownership did not take this opportunity to address labor costs which had led to sale of the Press This would come back to haunt them and lead to financial problems see Financial Challenges below During the strike publisher Richard Mellon Scaife expanded his paper the Greensburg Tribune Review based in the county seat of adjoining Westmoreland County where it had published for years While maintaining the original paper in its facilities in Greensburg he expanded it with a new Pittsburgh edition to serve the city and its suburbs Scaife named this paper the Pittsburgh Tribune Review 26 Scaife has invested significant amounts of capital into upgraded facilities separate offices and newsroom on Pittsburgh s North Side and a state of the art production facility in Marshall Township north of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County Relations between the Post Gazette and Tribune Review during its existence as a local print publication were often competitive and frequently hostile given Scaife s longstanding distaste for what he considered the Blocks liberalism On November 14 2011 the Post Gazette revived the Pittsburgh Press as an afternoon online newspaper 27 On February 12 2014 the paper purchased a new distribution facility in suburban Findlay Township Pennsylvania 28 In 2015 the paper moved into a new state of the art office building on the North Shore on a portion of the former site of Three Rivers Stadium ending 53 years in the former Press building and more than two centuries in Downtown Block Communications feeling that the building is being greatly underutilized considering its proximity to Point State Park still owns the building and plans to have the property redeveloped 29 On October 6 2022 the advertising distribution and production workers at the Post Gazette went on strike On October 18 the newsroom workers joined the strike The National Labor Relations Board NLRB also pursued a case against the paper charging unfair practices As of January 6 2023 the strike had not been settled and the NLRB case was pending before an administrative law judge 30 Partnerships and sponsorships Edit The Post Gazette building in October 2015 The newspaper sponsored a 23 000 seat outdoor amphitheater in Burgettstown Pennsylvania the Post Gazette Pavilion although it is still often referred to as Star Lake based on the original name Star Lake Amphitheater and later Coca Cola Star Lake Amphitheater under the former sponsor They gave up naming rights in 2010 31 First Niagara Bank which had entered the Pittsburgh market the year before after acquiring National City branches from Pittsburgh based PNC Financial Services 32 took over the naming rights to the facility and is now known as the KeyBank Pavilion 31 The newspaper once had ventures in television In 1957 the Post Gazette partnered with the H Kenneth Brennen family local radio owners to launch WIIC TV now WPXI as the area s first full time NBC affiliate 33 34 The Post Gazette and the Brennens sold off the station to current owner Cox Enterprises in 1964 35 Although the Post Gazette and WPXI have on occasion had some news partnerships the Post Gazette s primary news partner is now the local CBS owned and operated station KDKA TV In 2019 the Pittsburgh Post Gazette was a founding member of Spotlight PA an investigative reporting partnership focused on Pennsylvania 36 Financial challenges EditWhen John Craig handed editorial reign to David Shribman in 2003 Craig told Shribman that the paper was in terrible financial shape It was around the time of Hanukkah and Shribman quipped It seemed there was only enough oil in this newspaper to keep the light on for one year 37 In September 2006 the paper disclosed that it was experiencing financial challenges largely related to its labor costs The paper also disclosed it had not been profitable since printing had resumed in 1993 As a result of these issues the paper considered a number of options including putting the paper up for sale 38 While deep concern about the paper s future ensued negotiations proved fruitful and in February 2007 the paper s unions ratified a new agreement with management mandating job cuts changes in funding health care benefits and so forth In August 2018 the Post Gazette ceased publishing daily 39 It cut down to online editions on Tuesdays and Saturdays and print editions the remaining days of the week In October 2019 the paper further reduced its paper editions to Thursdays Fridays and Sundays 40 In March 2021 the paper cut down again getting rid of the Friday edition 41 Controversies EditFiring of cartoonist Edit In June 2018 the Post Gazette fired its long time editorial cartoonist Rob Rogers a previous Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning finalist who had worked at the paper for 25 years 42 43 44 having joined the paper in 1993 45 and worked under four supervising editors 44 The firing came in the context of increasing support for President Donald Trump and political conservatism on the Post Gazette editorial page 42 Pittsburgh mayor William Peduto who was both a friend of Rogers and had been lampooned in his cartoons called the paper s firing of Rogers disappointing and said it sent the wrong message about press freedoms 46 44 The firing was strongly criticized by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh 42 and the National Cartoonists Society 44 The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists said in a statement It s as simple as this Rogers was fired for refusing to do cartoons extolling Trump Let that sink in 43 The paper said that Rogers dismissal has little to do with politics ideology or Donald Trump but did not provide details 44 Rogers wrote in the New York Times that the paper s new management had decided in the lead up to his firing that his cartoons satirizing Trump were too angry 45 Rogers said that while editors had previously rejected or spiked an average of two to three of his cartoons each year under a new supervisor he had 19 cartoons or cartoon ideas killed in the first six months of 2018 44 Four months later after Rogers was fired the Post Gazette hired conservative editorial cartoonist Steve Kelley as Roger s replacement 47 After being fired Rogers comics continued to be published through Andrews McMeel Syndication 44 As a freelancer Rogers was named as a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in editorial cartooning with the committee citing his provocative illustrations that channeled cultural and historical references with expert artistry and an eye for hypocrisy and injustice 48 Sanctioning of reporter amid George Floyd protests Edit In 2020 the Post Gazette prohibited its reporter Alexis Johnson from covering the George Floyd protests 49 The Post Gazette said that Johnson an African American had shown bias by making a tweet that highlighted extensive littering from a Kenny Chesney concert tailgate The pulling of Johnson from the story prompted an outcry from journalists including the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and many of Johnson s Post Gazette colleagues 49 Awards EditPulitzer Prizes Edit The Post Gazette won Pulitzer Prizes in 1938 1998 and 2019 Photographer Morris Berman maintained that the paper would have won a Pulitzer in 1964 but chose not to run his iconic Y A Tittle picture that he took at Pitt Stadium 50 The photo would go on to win awards hang in the Pro Football Hall of Fame be used for the back cover of Tittle s autobiography and used in a Miller Beer High Life commercial in 2005 In 1938 Ray Sprigle won the Pulitzer Prize for Reporting for his investigation revealing that newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan Staff photographer Martha Rial won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography for her photographs of Rwandan and Burundian refugees Photographer John Kaplan won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for a series of photo essays on 21 year olds which was published in the Post Gazette and two other papers of the Block Newspapers group 51 This award cited Block Newspapers rather than the Post Gazette specifically 52 The Post Gazette won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting The paper was praised for its immersive compassionate coverage 53 Other awards Edit In 1997 Bill Moushey won the National Press Club s Freedom of Information Award on a series investigating the Federal Witness Protection Program and was a finalist for the Pulitzer 54 55 The Post Gazette also won the Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council RCC in 2017 for religion editor Peter Smith s work Silent Sanctuaries 56 Smith Stephanie Strasburg and Shelly Bradbury were finalists for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for an investigation into sexual abuse in Pennsylvania s Amish and Mennonite communities 57 Politics EditThe Post Gazette historically had a liberal editorial stance However it turned more conservative in the 2010s especially following the 2018 consolidation of its editorial department with that of longtime sister newspaper The Blade of Toledo Ohio specifically the appointment of The Blade s editorial page editor Keith Burris a frequent defender of Donald Trump to become the Post Gazette editorial page editor 2 Burris assumed the additional position of executive editor of the Post Gazette in 2019 58 In 2020 the Post Gazette endorsed Trump s reelection bid the first time since 1972 that the paper had endorsed a Republican for president 59 See also Edit Journalism portalChronicle Telegraph Cup Pittsburgh Tribune Review Tom Barnes Al Helfer Cy Hungerford James O Toole Martha Rial 1998 Pulitzer Prize winner Dennis Roddy Bob Smizik Bill Steigerwald Y A Tittle photoReferences Edit Winsor Morgan June 16 2018 Cartoonist fired for being critical of Trump They ve not silenced me ABC News Retrieved June 26 2020 a b Lyons Kim June 15 2018 Pittsburgh Post Gazette Cartoonist Fired as Paper Shifts Right The New York Times Retrieved June 23 2020 a b Andrews p 1 The Intellectual Life of Pittsburgh 1786 1836 II The Newspapers Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania 14 1 January 1931 Archived from the original on September 24 2014 Andrews p 38 Thomas p 42 Thomas p 43 Andrews pp 68 70 76 88 Andrews pp 122 135 Pittsburgh Gazette weekly ed March 8 1844 p 1 col 1 Pittsburgh Morning Post March 4 1844 p 2 col 1 Holt Michael F 1999 The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party Oxfordshire England Oxford University Press ISBN 9780195161045 About Us Pittsburgh Post Gazette Archived from the original on September 8 2006 Thomas p 101 Andrews p 245 About The Daily morning post Chronicling America Library of Congress Archived from the original on May 11 2014 Retrieved May 10 2014 Kehl James A September December 1948 The Allegheny Democrat 1833 1836 The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 31 3 4 73 74 Andrews p 73 Andrews p 292 Andrews p 291 Thomas pp 227 228 Thomas pp 229 230 a b Thomas p 231 a b Thomas pp 295 296 Thomas pp 232 228 Riely Kaitlynn October 25 2013 Pittsburgh Post Gazette building district placed on National Register of Historic Places Pittsburgh Post Gazette Archived from the original on October 27 2013 Thomas pp 281 283 Thomas p 303 Schooley Tim November 14 2011 Block brings back Pittsburgh Press in e version Pittsburgh Business Journal American City Business Journals Archived from the original on May 31 2016 Post Gazette signs lease for printing plant and distribution center in Clinton Pittsburgh Post Gazette Block Communications February 12 2014 Archived from the original on February 22 2014 Post Gazette newsroom leaves history Downtown with move to North Side post gazette com Archived from the original on July 8 2017 Retrieved May 8 2018 McCann Alex January 6 2023 Striking Post Gazette workers resume picketing Pittsburgh Union Progress Retrieved January 20 2023 a b Mervis Scott February 8 2010 Burgettstown pavilion renamed First Niagara Pittsburgh Post Gazette Block Communications Archived from the original on November 29 2014 Retrieved November 18 2014 Olson Thomas April 8 2009 First Niagara Bank buys 57 National City Bank branches from PNC TribLive Archived from the original on November 29 2014 Retrieved November 18 2014 WIIC TV Pittsburgh Joins NBC TV PDF Broadcasting Washington DC Broadcasting Publications Inc April 1 1957 p 7 Thomas pp 236 237 A banner week in station sales PDF Broadcasting Washington DC Broadcasting Publications Inc September 7 1964 p 54 via American Radio History PennLive amp The Patriot News join Spotlight PA as founding partners Spotlight PA August 29 2019 Retrieved November 6 2021 Gannon Joyce December 18 2018 Post Gazette editor David Shribman to step down at end of the year Pittsburgh Post Gazette Retrieved October 29 2019 Boselovic Len September 15 2006 Without labor deal PG could be sold owners say Pittsburgh Post Gazette Archived from the original on March 10 2007 The Pittsburgh Post Gazette brooklineconnection com Retrieved November 12 2021 Fernandez Bob July 19 2020 Pittsburgh Post Gazette to cut print edition to 3 days The Philadelphia Inquirer Retrieved July 20 2019 Lindstrom Natasha January 13 2021 Post Gazette reducing print edition to 2 days a week cites plan to go all digital TribLive Retrieved February 27 2020 a b c Statement on Rob Rogers Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh June 14 2018 a b Statement Rob Rogers fired Association of American Cartoonists June 15 2018 a b c d e f g Cavna Michael June 14 2018 Pittsburgh Post Gazette fires anti Trump cartoonist and mayor says it sends wrong message about press freedoms Washington Post a b Rogers Rob June 15 2018 I Was Fired for Making Fun of Trump The New York Times New York City Statement by Mayor William Peduto on Cartoonist Rob Rogers Office of the Mayor City of Pittsburgh June 14 2018 Cavna Michael October 23 2018 Pittsburgh Post Gazette hires a new conservative cartoonist after the firing of a Trump critic The Washington Post The 2019 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer Prize April 15 2019 Retrieved April 19 2019 a b Dalton Andrew June 6 2020 Shouts of solidarity for black reporter pulled from protests Associated Press Retrieved June 6 2020 Thurber Jon June 21 2002 Morris Berman 92 Tittle Photo Endures Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on December 21 2014 Retrieved November 18 2014 1992 Pulitzer Prize Winners and Their Works in Journalism and the Arts The New York Times April 8 1992 Retrieved July 8 2020 Feature Photography The Pulitzer Prizes Retrieved July 8 2020 The 2019 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Breaking News Reporting Pulitzer Prize April 15 2019 Retrieved April 19 2019 Pittsburgh Post Gazette Win at all costs Archived from the original on October 1 2012 Retrieved May 21 2013 Bill Moushey Professor of Journalism Point Park University Archived from the original on November 16 2014 Retrieved November 18 2014 Wilbur Awards PDF 2017 Retrieved February 14 2019 The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Local Reporting The Pulitzer Prizes May 4 2020 Perkins Lucy February 18 2019 Post Gazette Appoints Keith Burris to Top Editor Position Retrieved July 2 2020 The man and the record Bibliography and further reading EditAndrews J Cutler 1936 Pittsburgh s Post Gazette The First Newspaper West of the Alleghenies Boston Chapman amp Grimes hdl 2027 mdp 39015011226290 Thomas Clarke M 2005 Front Page Pittsburgh Two Hundred Years of the Post Gazette Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh Press ISBN 0 8229 4248 8 Daily and Sunday Newspaper Circulation Newspapers First March 31 2006 Archived from the original on March 12 2007 Retrieved March 1 2007 2007 Top 100 Daily Newspapers in the U S by Circulation PDF BurrellesLuce March 31 2007 Archived from the original PDF on December 2 2017 Retrieved May 28 2007 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pittsburgh Post Gazette Official website History of the Post Gazette Google News Archive microfilm archive 1927 2007 C SPAN piece on the Post Gazette Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pittsburgh Post Gazette amp oldid 1134727874, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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