Trib to cease printing Pittsburgh edition

[fleetiebelle]

But I wonder how many of us here actually subscribe or buy into supporting local journalism? I know lots of people who have tricks for avoiding the free article limits for papers and hiding the ads and then they say how bad they feel when these local papers shut down and local journalists lose their jobs. Unless we're putting our money where our mouths are, we're to blame, too.

[Geeo]

I skipped their editorial pages, but I subscribed to the Sunday paper ($10 a year). It was a pretty good paper, in spite of Scaife and what a horrible place it was to work. I felt it was important to have two papers. The Business Times said that we were one of the last major cities with two papers, and I think only New York, Chicago and maybe Boston still have two papers. Seattle doesn't have a print edition anymore, and Cleveland and Detroit only print three or four days a week.

People expect free stuff on the Internet, and they're getting what they pay for. I don't think they realize that journalists need to be paid for their work. It is very difficult to put out a general daily online because the advertising just can't support it. Which is why we end up with all these sites that publish wild rumors and innuendo and are geared to a specific audience.

[krogerDisco]

Originally Posted by Geeo

People expect free stuff on the Internet, and they're getting what they pay for. I don't think they realize that journalists need to be paid for their work. It is very difficult to put out a general daily online because the advertising just can't support it. Which is why we end up with all these sites that publish wild rumors and innuendo and are geared to a specific audience.

It's also that the Internet has taken business from newspapers, classifieds? CraigsList or Ebay. Looking for a job? LinkedIn or Monster and other sites. Movie times? Can be found on the Internet, even reviews.

Maybe newspapers were too slow to respond. All they can do well is report news.

[Copanut]

I was never a big fan of the Trib. Back in the day I used to read both the Press and the Post Gazette. Reading the paper seems to be dying out as years go by. I still enjoy getting my news that way in addition to the internet. But, money talks, and as others have mentioned the loss of advertising revenue has caused major financial losses for the industry. Things change, but I'm not crazy about this one.

[tyovan4]

Some other interesting info from WESA:

Losing the Tribune-Review marks the end of an era in Pittsburgh.

With the print edition's departure, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will become the only widely circulated daily newspaper left in the market. Pittsburgh has been home to at least two printed daily newspapers dating back to the mid-1800s.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was a relatively late entrant to the larger Pittsburgh market.

Prior to the early 1990s, it was a regional paper serving only Westmoreland, Indiana and Fayette counties under the still-existing Greensburg Tribune-Review banner.

A union strike in 1992 prevented the city’s two major newspapers at the time, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Press, from publishing. That work stoppage opened the door for Scaife, who began publishing a Pittsburgh edition of his Greensburg newspaper.

Block Communications, owner of the Post-Gazette, purchased the Press from Scripps Howard near the end of 1992. The company, however, opted to not resume the Press’s publication when the union strike ended. Since then, the Post-Gazette and Tribune-Review have been the city's only daily newspapers.

Pittsburgh Trib To Cease Printing Nov. 30 | 90.5 WESA

[captainmidnight]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

I wonder if DK on Pittsburgh sports had any effect on their recent losses as well. The Trib used to have a few decent sports writers that I considered better and more well known than what the PG had, but they're all mostly on his site and gone from the Trib.

Possibly. Those guys saw the writing on the wall, I bet.

I like the Trib's website better than the PG's. I read headlines at both papers, maybe some news stories, but thats it. No sports, no op-eds. I haven't read a print newspaper since I was in high school 15 years ago.

[krogerDisco]

If you have 20 minutes to spare, I thought this piece was brilliant, funny and sad.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq2_wSsDwkQ

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by krogerDisco

If you have 20 minutes to spare, I thought this piece was brilliant, funny and sad.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq2_wSsDwkQ

All of John Oliver's videos are fantastic. While there is comedy in his videos, they certainly do look at and tackle serious issues in a way much of the standard TV news would not, which shows what a sorry state TV news is in!