Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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The 2006-07-23 front page of the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner Block Communications
Publisher John Robinson Block
Editor John Robinson Block
Founded 1786 (as The Gazette)
Price US$ 0.50 Mon-Sat
US$ 1.50 Sun (Pittsburgh)
US$ 1.75 Sun (elsewhere)
Headquarters 34 Boulevard of the Allies
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222 Flag of the United States United States
Circulation 213,352 Daily
341,474 Sunday
Website: post-gazette.com

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the PG, is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Contents

[edit] Early history

The paper began publication on July 29, 1786, with the encouragement of Hugh Henry Brackenridge as a four-page weekly, initially called The Gazette. It was the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains. 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 States.

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. The paper's editorial stance at the time was conservative, and the paper's presence in Pittsburgh was credited with helping to organize a local chapter of the 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 civil war. [1]

After a consolidation of papers in 1866, the paper was again renamed and was then known as the Commercial Gazette.

In 1900, George Oliver 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, publisher Paul Block bought the paper in 1927 and it became the Post-Gazette.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Building

[edit] Joint operating agreement

In 1960, Pittsburgh had three daily papers: the Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press and the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. The Post-Gazette bought the Sun-Telegraph, and moved into the Sun-Telegraph's 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.

[edit] 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.

During the strike, conservative/libertarian 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. 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."

[edit] Editorial stance

Although the paper does not have a defined editorial stance, its opinion page is liberal compared to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,[citation needed] the competing paper owned by conservative media mogul Richard Mellon Scaife.[citation needed]

On its masthead, the P-G identifies itself as One of America's Great Newspapers, as does its sister paper, The (Toledo, OH) Blade. The Post-Gazette staff has actually won two[citation needed] Pulitzers: one in 1998 for spot news photography[citation needed] and one in 1938 for reporting on Justice Hugo Black's ties to the Ku Klux Klan.[citation needed]

[edit] Community presence

The newspaper sponsors a major 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.

[edit] 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.[2] 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.

[edit] References

[edit] External links