Center for Media Innovation leader says Post-Gazette’s impending closure should be ‘a call to arms’

This is a historically important newspaper. It was the first one west of the Alleghenies. It won a well-deserved Pulitzer in 2018 after the synagogues massacre in 2018. Its in-depth coverage on breaking news and stories that matter in the community would be deeply missed in the region.”

Andrew Conte, assistant vice president and managing director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University

Andrew Conte, assistant vice president and managing director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University, said the impending closure of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, should be “a call to arms” for the community.

“The crisis in local news has been framed as a ‘media problem.’ The reality is, healthy communities require easy access to reliable local news,” said Conte, who had a decades long career as a journalist  and now works as an important advocate for local news through the Center.

His book “Death of the Daily News” tells the story of how public officials lose their ability to reach constituents, citizens lose awareness of even simple things such as obituaries, events and school activities, and people quickly grow frustrated at the lack of accurate, relevant, objective information. The closure of the Post-Gazette would represent a significant knowledge loss in Pittsburgh, even as the city maintains other news outlets.

“This is a historically important newspaper. It was the first one west of the Alleghenies,” he said. “It won a well-deserved Pulitzer in 2018 after the synagogues massacre in 2018. Its in-depth coverage on breaking news and stories that matter in the community would be deeply missed in the region.”

The Center for Media Innovation works with the national organization Press Forward, which has been trying to tackle the challenge of dying local news, with funders committing $500 million. Locally, the Center’s chapter includes five foundations that have aligned themselves for exactly this moment.

The Center, under Conte’s leadership, has spent the last decade working toward dealing with a moment like this. Its Pittsburgh Media Partnership brings together 30-plus news outlets, including the Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh City Paper — which the Post-Gazette’s parent company also recently closed.

“Many of these organizations were previously trying to put each other out of the business,” Conte said. “Now, news outlets are working together and everyone — even the competition — is saddened by the loss of significant news outlets.”