The
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily
newspaperA newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
serving metropolitan
PittsburghPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
,
USAThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Early history
The paper began publication on 29 July 1786, with the encouragement of
Hugh Henry BrackenridgeHugh Henry Brackenridge was an American writer, lawyer, judge, and justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.A frontier citizen in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, he founded both the Pittsburgh Academy, now the University of Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh Gazette, still operating today as the...
as a four-page weekly, initially called "The Gazette." It was the first newspaper published west of the
Allegheny MountainsThe Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
. The publishers were Joseph Hall and John Scull. The paper covered the start of the nation, and as one of its first major articles, published the newly adopted
Constitution of the United StatesThe Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
.
In 1828, the paper was sold to Morgan Neville, and the name briefly changed to Pittsburgh Gazette and Manufacturing and Mercantile Advertiser. In 1829, Neville sold the paper to David McClean, who reverted to the former title.
In 1844, the paper became a morning daily paper. Although the paper's editorial stance at the time was conservative, the paper was credited with helping to organize a local chapter of the new
Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, and with contributing to the election of
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. The paper was one of the first to suggest tensions between North and South would erupt in war.
After a consolidation of papers in 1866, the paper was again renamed and was then known as the Commercial Gazette.
In 1900,
George T. OliverGeorge Tener Oliver was an American lawyer, publisher, and Republican party politician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate...
acquired the paper, merged it with another paper (The Pittsburgh Times) and formed a new paper, The Gazette Times. After several more mergers of newspapers in Pittsburgh, including the
DispatchThe Pittsburgh Dispatch was a leading newspaper in Pittsburgh, PA, operating from 1846 to 1923. After being enlarged by publisher Daniel O'Neill it was reportedly one of the largest and most prosperous newspapers in the United States...
, publisher Paul Block bought the paper in 1927 and it became the Post-Gazette on August 2.
Joint operating agreement
In 1960, Pittsburgh had three daily papers: the Post-Gazette in the morning, and the
Pittsburgh PressThe Pittsburgh Press is an online newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, currently owned and operated by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Historically, it was a major afternoon paper...
and the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph in the evening and on Sunday. The Post-Gazette bought the Sun-Telegraph (which had bought the old Chronicle-Telegraph), and moved into the Sun-Telegraphs Grant Street offices.
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. In November 1961, the Post-Gazette entered into an agreement with the Pittsburgh Press Company to combine their production and advertising sales operations. 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. This agreement stayed in place for over 30 years.
Strike, consolidation, new competition
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. During the strike, the Scripps Howard company sold the Press to the Block family, owners of the Post-Gazette. 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, conservative publisher
Richard Mellon ScaifeRichard Mellon Scaife is an American newspaper publisher and billionaire. Scaife owns and publishes the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. With $1.2 billion, Scaife, a principal heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune, is No...
expanded his paper, the
GreensburgGreensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city is named after Nathanael Greene, a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War...
Tribune-Review, based in the county seat of adjoining
Westmoreland County-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 369,993 people, 149,813 households, and 104,569 families residing in the county. The population density was 361 people per square mile . There were 161,058 housing units at an average density of 157 per square mile...
, 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-ReviewThe Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
. 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 are 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 PressThe Pittsburgh Press is an online newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, currently owned and operated by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Historically, it was a major afternoon paper...
as an afternoon
online newspaperAn online newspaper, also known as a web newspaper, is a newspaper that exists on the World Wide Web or Internet, either separately or as an online version of a printed periodical....
.
Community presence
The newspaper sponsored a major 23,000 seat outdoor amphitheater in
Burgettstown, PennsylvaniaBurgettstown is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The population was 1,576 according to the 2000 census.-History:...
, 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-ColaCoca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
Star Lake Amphitheater" under the former sponsor. They gave up
naming rightsIn the private sector, naming rights are a financial transaction whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three...
in 2010.
First Niagara BankFirst Niagara Bank is a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured regional banking corporation headquartered in the historic Larkin Terminal Warehouse in Buffalo, New York.-History:...
, which had entered the Pittsburgh market the year before after
acquiringThe National City acquisition by PNC was the deal by PNC Financial Services to acquire National City Corp. on October 24, 2008 following National City's untenable loan losses during the subprime mortgage crisis...
National CityNational City Corporation was a regional bank holding company based in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, founded in 1845; it was once one of the ten largest banks in America in terms of deposits, mortgages and home equity lines of credit. Subsidiary National City Mortgage is credited for doing the first...
branches from Pittsburgh-based
PNC Financial ServicesPNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is a U.S.-based financial services corporation, with assets of approximately $264.3 billion...
, took over the naming rights to the facility and is now known as the
First Niagara PavilionFirst Niagara Pavilion is an outdoor amphitheater in Hanover Township near Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, United States, 25 miles west of downtown Pittsburgh, via US 22...
.
The newspaper once had ventures in
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. In 1957, the Post-Gazette launched WIIC-TV (now
WPXIWPXI, channel 11, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter located on the north side of Pittsburgh. Owned by Cox Enterprises, the station has studios in the...
) as the area's first full-time
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate three years after
Westinghouse ElectricWestinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
's
Group WThe Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
spurned NBC for
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
with its newly-acquired former
DuMontThe DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
O&OIn the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
WDTV (now
KDKA-TVKDKA-TV, channel 2, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. KDKA-TV broadcasts from a transmitter located in the Perry North neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and its studios are located in downtown Pittsburgh at Gateway Center....
) despite
KDKA Radio'sKDKA is a radio station licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Created by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation on November 2, 1920, it is one of the world's first modern radio stations , a distinction that has also been challenged by other stations, although it has claimed to be the first in...
longtime affiliation with NBC Radio. The Post-Gazette sold off the station to current owner
Cox EnterprisesCox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...
in 1964. Although the Post-Gazette and WPXI have on occasion had some news partnerships, the Post-Gazette's primary news partner is now ironically KDKA-TV.
Financial challenges
In September 2006, the paper disclosed that it is 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 is considering a number of options, including putting the paper up for sale. 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.
Awards
The Post-Gazette won
PulitzersThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in 1938, 1986, 1987 and 1998. It is generally accepted that the paper would have won a Pulitzer in 1964 but chose not to run the iconic Y.A. Tittle picture that one of its photographers took at
Pitt StadiumPitt Stadium was a stadium located on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1925 to 1999. It served primarily as the home of the University of Pittsburgh's football team, the Pittsburgh Panthers...
. 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.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft5P1EVDD54
See also
- Chronicle-Telegraph Cup
The Chronicle-Telegraph Cup was the trophy awarded to the winner of a postseason competition in American professional baseball in 1900. The series, played only once, was a precursor to the current World Series....
- Y.A. Tittle Photo
- Dennis Roddy
Dennis Brian Patrick Roddy is a prominent journalist in Pennsylvania, working for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.-Education:A native of Johnstown, Roddy was born the 4th of 5 children to an Irish American family. His father, Robert Roddy, Sr., was a steelworker and negotiator for the United...
- Tom Barnes
Tom Barnes is a prominent journalist in Pennsylvania, working for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as Harrisburg Bureau Chief.Barnes, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, earned a B.A. degree from University of Michigan and a M.A. in journalism from University of Missouri. Following graduation, he...
- James O'Toole
James O'Toole is a prominent journalist in Pennsylvania, working for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as the politics editor. Prior to that, O'Toole has held several positions for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, including the Pennsylvania State Capitol correspondent, United States Capitol correspondent,...
- Bob Smizik
Robert Smizik is a former sportswriter and columnist for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Smizik was bought out of his contract by the Post-Gazette in mid-December 2008, then retiring from his duties as a full-time columnist for the paper...
- Martha Rial
Martha Rial is a staff photographer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for her photography of Rwanda and Burundi.-Life:She is a native of the Pittsburgh suburb of Murrysville, Pennsylvania....
1998 Pulitzer Prize Winner
- Cy Hungerford
- Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
External links