‘Severe’ staff cuts begin at P-G

Job offer letters started going out this week.

By MEGAN TROTTER and MEGAN SWIFT
TribLive

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is slashing staff as it begins operations under new ownership.

At least 40% newsroom workers are losing their jobs and 80% of employees who had gone on strike did not receive an offer to be retained, according to Andrew Goldstein, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh.

“Coverage areas from high school sports to the arts are being decimated,” Goldstein said in a statement Friday. “The photo department and copy desk are getting deeply slashed.”

The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism announced last month that it was acquiring the Post-Gazette from longtime owners Block Communications. Venetoulis, a nonprofit that owns The Baltimore Banner, indicated in April that the Post-Gazette staff size would shrink but did not provide an exact figure.

In a statement Friday, Monique Jones, vice president of editorial and business development at The Baltimore Banner, said the nonprofit organization is “determined to put the publication, which was on the verge of shutdown, on solid financial footing.”

“As we develop the next chapter of the P-G, our commitment to providing trusted, independent news to the Pittsburgh region is fierce and unwavering,” she said. “The new P-G will be sized to deliver on both these pledges.”

Jones’ Friday statement did not address the number of staff members who were cut or offered positions. She previously said Thursday that she didn’t have information about staffing.

Block Communications, owners of the Post-Gazette since 1927, announced in January that it intended to close the paper this month. The news followed a threeyear strike and failed attempts by the Post-Gazette to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a lower court order that required the company to make changes to its health insurance coverage for union workers.

When the sale was announced April 14, Venetoulis Chairman Stewart Bainum Jr. said the organization might need to shed staff because the Post-Gazette’s current business model couldn’t sustain a newsroom of its present size of about 100 employees.

The union believes “closer to half” of the staff will ultimately be cut, Goldstein said.

“The cuts are severe,” he said.

Some staff writers started posting on social media Thursday that they did not receive offer letters for continued employment.

Music writer Scott Mervis is among those not being retained. He posted on X that he had worked at the paper for 41 years.

“The job offers went out last night for the new (Post-Gazette). I did not receive one,” Mervis wrote Thursday. “So, after 41 years, Friday will be my last day at the paper.

“All the best to my colleagues. Thanks to all the musicians for all the great conversations over the years.”

Others posted similar announcements.

High school sports reporter Steve Rotstein said he will not keep his job.

“Telling the stories of high school athletes all across Western PA has truly been a privilege and a joy,” Rotstein said on X.

Abby Schnable, who covered Pitt athletics, also said she will lose her job.

Job offers began to be sent Wednesday night, according to an email from the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh to union members obtained by TribLive.

In his statement, Goldstein accused Bainum of lying about having no intention of disproportionately retaining people who crossed the picket line.

“All strikers are accounted for. Five were offered jobs. The retention rates are not close. The gap only grows as we confirm more offers,” Goldstein said.

Only one of the five strikers who received job offers was a reporter, he said. Just one union officer was offered a position, he said.

Goldstein, whose job was not retained, told TribLive he was unsure whether anyone from the union had accepted a Venetoulis offer as of Friday morning.

Venetoulis said it was keeping the Post-Gazette’s leadership team intact. Tracey DeAngelo will remain president and Stan Wischnowski will continue as executive editor.

It’s unclear where the union goes from here. Goldstein said the union is reviewing its options.