Post-Gazette parent company says the paper will end publication in May

by Ian Karbal, Pennsylvania Capital-Star
January 7, 2026

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper serving the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, is set to shut down on May 3, according to its owners. The move will impact the paper’s print and digital content.

The paper’s parent company, Block Communication Inc., said in a press release that the decision to shutter the outlet was spurred by recent legal rulings against the Post-Gazette  and in favor of the union representing its newsroom employees.

“The ownership of the Post-Gazette has been talking about how this day might come eventually, but it’s still shocking when the announcement actually goes out,” said Andrew Conte, the managing director of the center for media innovation at Point Park University. “It’s a blow to the media ecosystem, but also a blow to communities across southwestern Pennsylvania. We’ll have one fewer news organization telling the stories here, and the Post-Gazette was one of the major sources of information here.” 

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Conte said the Post-Gazette, founded in the 18th century as the Pittsburgh Gazette, is the oldest newspaper west of the Allegheny mountains.

“Going back to the pioneer days, this organization was the one telling stories of the lives of people who live here in southwestern Pennsylvania,” he said.

The paper had recently lost a legal battle with the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, which represented Post-Gazette workers who’d been on strike between October 2022 and November 2025.

“Recent court decisions would require the Post-Gazette to operate under a 2014 labor contract that imposes on the Post-Gazette outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism,” a press release said. “We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region.”

The press release said that Block Communications lost more than $350 million operating the paper over the last 20 years.

The announcement came the same day the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request from the paper to stay a lower court decision forcing them to reinstate the terms of a previous union contract.

“Rather than follow federal law, the Blocks, the owners of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, would rather destroy a very long-standing publication that serves the people of Pittsburgh,” said Jon Schleuss, president of the national NewsGuild-CWA. “They spent millions of dollars fighting journalists and refusing to follow federal labor law.”

Schleuss said the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh represents around 100 employees at the Post-Gazette.

Allan Block, who co-owns the paper with his brother John Robinson Block, hung up his phone after being reached by the Capital-Star.

Steve Mellon, a veteran reporter who’s spent more than 25 years at the Post-Gazette, said employees were called into an emergency meeting shortly after the Supreme Court announcement. Then, they learned in a pre-recorded video about Block Communications’ decision to close the paper.

“I thought, ‘You gotta be kidding me,’” Mellon said. “Especially thinking about my younger colleagues who are on their first or second jobs.”

The video, a recording of which was viewed by the Capital-Star, was roughly two-and-a-half minutes long. Employees were asked to work “under business as usual conditions” and “consider the legacy of the Post-Gazette” through the paper’s final day.

Union journalists at the Post-Gazette began an unfair labor practice strike in October, 2022 after working for years without a union contract.

The union alleged that the Blocks refused to negotiate in good faith and unilaterally changed reporters to a lower quality healthcare plan. 

They received several favorable decisions from the National Labor Review Board, an administrative law judge and the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals before returning to work in November, 2025 under the terms of their last collectively bargained contract. Before it ended, it was the longest ongoing strike in the country.

The paper, however, continued to publish during the strike. A number of journalists chose to remain on the job, and more employees were hired over the course of the three-year work stoppage.

Striking workers began an online publication of their own, the Pittsburgh Union Progress, which ceased operations when union journalists returned to the Post-Gazette.

“Post-Gazette journalists have done award-winning work for decades, and we’re going to pursue all options to make sure that Pittsburgh continues to have the caliber of journalism it deserves,” Andrew Goldstein, a Post-Gazette employee and president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh-CWA, said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

Schleuss said the Newsguild is willing to “pursue all options for the sake of the journalists and the Pittsburgh community.” That may include seeking potential buyers for the Post-Gazette or people interested in funding a new outlet.

“The Block Family should be ashamed of themselves,” said state Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny), who supported striking workers by refusing interviews with the Post-Gazette during the three-year work stoppage. “They could have saved a ton of money if they just negotiated in good faith with the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh from the beginning. It is absurd that they repeatedly blame workers for their failure to manage their own business.

“My heart goes out to the Post-Gazette workers who have been through so much and have never deserved how they were treated. They are the only ones leaving that building with their dignity intact.”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette received Pulitzer Prizes, one of the highest honors in journalism, in 1938, 1998 and 2019. The most recent one was for  coverage of the deadly mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

Mellon, the veteran journalist, is still hopeful about the future for the Post-Gazettes employees and the Pittsburgh news ecosystem.

“Don’t count out the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh,” he said. “We’ve been up against gigantic odds in the past and we’ve come through. We know how to organize.”

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Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Tim Lambert for questions: info@penncapital-star.com.