The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will only publish a print edition of its newspaper three days a week, cutting its Monday and Wednesday editions as of September 30. The once daily paper cut its Tuesday and Saturday editions last August.
In a July 17 letter to Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh President Mike Fuoco, the company said the move is part of its “transition to a digital-only newspaper.” The Post-Gazette also said it will no longer deliver other partner products, such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
In an email to editorial leadership Thursday, Fuoco called the decision “counterintuitive.”
“This is a colossal mistake given the demographics of our subscribers, who are older and want nothing to do with digital,” Fuoco said. “We have not done a good enough job promoting our digital platforms to young people to make up for the difference.”
Fuoco wrote that while the move isn’t a surprise, “it is nevertheless a gut punch to those of us in the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh who love this 232-year-old institution.” He noted subscribers’ complaints after the last round of cuts and worried more readers will be lost. "I fear this is the death knell for the paper where I have worked more than half my life," he wrote.
The announcement is the latest in a string of challenges for the Post-Gazette. Contract disputes have been at a standstill for more than two years. During that time, the National Labor Relations Board said that the company was violating federal labor law by not following some terms of the last bargaining agreement. The company has appealed that decision.
In response to the turmoil, there have been several protests condemning the paper's publisher, John Robinson Block.
