The Venetoulis Institute Goes to Pittsburgh
A nice save, followed by rough cuts.
It was a miraculous save. After a three-year strike, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had been fated to close on May 3, as its publisher, Block Communications, had informed staff via prerecorded Zoom video. Then, weeks before doomsday, it was announced that the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism would be taking over, giving the Post-Gazette another shot. In 2022 the Venetoulis Institute, a nonprofit organization founded by Stewart Bainum Jr., a hotel magnate, established the Baltimore Banner, which has since grown into a robust newsroom and won a Pulitzer Prize. Andrew “Goldy” Goldstein, the president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, was cautiously optimistic.
Related Knowledge Center: State of the business model
The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.
Related Knowledge Center: Local media
The hollowing out of the local news ecosystem has been well documented; in some communities, efforts are underway to reverse the growing news desert.