The Post-Gazette’s treatment of Black reporters who have been pulled from the coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement underscores why we all should care about this — and gives some clues for what we must do.
Pittsburgh already has so few Black journalists, and many who are here say they feel mistreated, left out and stuck in dead-end careers. Read more…
On this the day when the Post-Gazette drops two more days of print, my column looks at the responsibility each of us bears for supporting local news and information – or not.
The answers to these challenges, I think, live in each of us. What do we value as news consumers, and now as news generators? Where are we willing to pay for content, either with our attention or with our dollars? And when no journalists are left to create original content, what are we willing to generate on our own?
I ran into these guild members protesting John Robinson Block and the Post-Gazette outside of the Omni William Penn Hotel. The one on the left is my former graduate assistant, Ashley Murray.
Publisher John Robinson Block stopped short of saying the Post-Gazette is on life support, but he did compare the newspaper to a sick patient waiting for a cure. My latest NEXTpittsburgh column looks at the publisher’s comments for the present and future: https://www.nextpittsburgh.com/latest-news/on-media-like-a-sick-patient-post-gazette-holding-out-for-a-cure-publisher-says/.
KDKA-TV reporter Andy Sheehan was doing live reports at the corner of Northumberland Street and Shady Avenue in Squirrel Hill on Saturday when Jeff Cohen from the Smallman Street Deli walked up with a corned beef sandwich.
Napoli’s sent over pizzas, and local residents brought cups of coffee and bottles of water for Sheehan and cameraman Fred Williams. Others let them come inside their homes to use the bathroom.
In the middle of a horrific tragedy — a gunman’s killing of 11 people and injuring of six others inside the Tree of Life Synagogue — Sheehan also found himself surrounded by his community. He lives just 300 yards from the synagogue.
“I know that neighborhood, where I was,” Sheehan told me later this week. “I know the congregation. I catch my bus in the morning right across from Tree of Life. I know the lay of the land, and I know the people who go there.” Read more…
Perhaps you have wondered, What is up with the politics at Pittsburgh’s newspapers? My latest column seeks to shed some light. Plus, an exclusive interview with the Trib’s new community engagement editor.
Pittsburghers counted on the Post-Gazette for left-leaning perspectives, while the Tribune-Review took up positions on the right.
In the supercharged political climate of our times, and with the midterm elections next month, it often seems the newspapers have flip-flopped positions. Families that once considered themselves aligned with one publication or the other suddenly find themselves bewildered and frustrated by the marked change in tone. Read more…
Andrew Conte 