I really miss this paper, but not in its current unreliable format written by people who have no regard for their (former) coworkers and accept bribery salaries to sell everyone out. That’s not journalism. It is greed and absolutely unreliable as a source of fairness or balance.
Here are the sources I use each day to replace the Post-Gazette. None are as all-encompassing or even as fancy, but they get the job done.
- Pittsburgh Union Progress (PUP) – this is the strike paper for the PG workers. This is where you’ll find the journalists you respect and admire still doing important coverage – without pay – and you’ll find some excellent perspectives.
- TribLive.com – I’ve always read this paper/site because they do some actually good stories on LGBTQ folx. Now I visit each day to scan the headlines and keep abreast of general interest stories. Hey, the Pirates won. Hey, a new hotel is being built.
- WESA 90.5 FM – I listen to this a lot of mornings and sometimes during the day. Also in the evening when I pick up my wife from work. But I also visit the website several times a day for some stellar reporting. There’s no way a news room this small can replace the Post-Gazette, but they certainly are on par in terms of journalistic standards. And with organizing a union among the staff (along with WYEP), maybe we’ll see a different sort of relationship that doesn’t destroy journalism like the Block family. I hope WESA/WYEP realizes they can’t duck a union forever and instead leans into a different way of forging a future.
- PublicSource – excellent and diverse coverage across a lot of areas. I hear rumors they may be organizing as well which I think promises better for the readers. *Note that I have been a contributor to this publication.
- The City Paper – always a good source on culture and the arts, but not shabby on news coverage. I’m probably biased here because I don’t trust their parent company (a subsidiary of Block Communications who are refusing to negotiate with their own employees at the Post-Gazette) so I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. But I visit daily to catch up and I follow a lot of their employees on social media. The hyperlocal focus is useful and often provides some interesting contrast with these other sources.
- NEXT Pittsburgh – a website outlet that is comparable to the Pittsburgh City Paper. One big difference is that they are a really white team of journalists so I guess that makes them also like the Post-Gazette. When Tony Norman moved to NEXT Pittsburgh after retiring from the PG, I took notice of that change. So I visit daily. My wife really likes their arts, culture, and restaurant coverage.
- New Pittsburgh Courier – immersive coverage of Pittsburgh through the lens of Black neighbors. Good for local stories and national stories from the wire that I might otherwise miss. You can also subscribe to a weekly print edition for $45 a year.
- Beaver County Times – offers good perspective outside of the City and insight into rural life in Western Pennsylvania
- Observer-Reporter – covers Washington, Greene, and Mon Valley communities. good local stories and again a taste of life outside the urban lens
- Pittsburgh Business Times – the digital subscription is a little steep for me, but I read the free articles and the headlines. I don’t always understand what I”m reading LOL, but I know it is important to pay attention.
- Jewish Chronicle – another way to look at the region through a different perspective. The JC has done some excellent LGBTQ coverage.
I also regularly read the Washington Post and New York Times as well as lots of queer media sites, but I rarely see anything Pittsburgh related. And I watch the news every day, both local and national, so if I see a good story, I’ll go digging on the website to find it. I don’t look at the local paper that now prints the PG b/c they suck for doing that. I do occasionally read the magazine sites, but mostly if something pops up in my feed.
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The key to my capacity to read all of these sources regularly is using Google’s Feedly app – it pulls the RSS feed into one app so I can read, skim, or share. There’s a free version. I love this app.
You are not a prisoner to the Block family cartel. Every single member of that family is destroying Pittsburgh by their inaction, but we can find a workaround. Let me know if there are additions to this list …
