Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to Cease Operations May 3 After 240 Years
Block Communications cites $350 million in losses and “unsustainable” operations following Supreme Court ruling in union dispute.
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the region's largest and oldest newspaper, will publish its final edition on May 3, 2026, owner Block Communications announced Wednesday, ending nearly 240 years of journalism in the Steel City.
The closure will affect approximately 150 newsroom employees and hundreds more in other departments. Staff learned of the decision via a pre-recorded video played during an emergency Zoom meeting, with no company representatives speaking live.
“Today I am sharing extremely difficult news,” Jodi Miehls, president and COO of Block Communications, said in the recorded announcement. “The realities facing local journalism have brought us to this sad moment.”
Supreme Court Ruling Preceded Announcement
The announcement came just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Block Communications' request to stay a lower court order requiring the company to reinstate a 2014 union contract and health care plan for Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members.
The company said it has lost more than $350 million operating the Post-Gazette over the past 20 years and called the court-ordered return to the 2014 contract terms “outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today's local journalism.”
The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, whose members had been on strike for more than three years before returning to work in November 2025, condemned the decision.
“Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh,” said guild president Andrew Goldstein. “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.”
“A Seismic Change”
The closure follows last week's sudden shutdown of Pittsburgh City Paper, also owned by Block Communications, leaving the region without its two largest print publications.
“This is a seismic change for the entire region,” said Andrew Conte, managing director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. “We often talk about the local news crisis as a problem of the media, but really, it's a crisis for all of us. When something as large as the Post-Gazette goes away, it creates a huge void.”
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato called the closure “a major loss” and said she would be “engaging local leaders to assess options for a more robust and sustainable local news ecosystem.”
“I'm deeply worried about the public's ability to access trustworthy and fact-checked information at a time when misinformation is running rampant online,” Innamorato said.
A 240-Year Legacy
The Post-Gazette traces its roots to 1786, when the Pittsburgh Gazette began as a four-page weekly. The paper became a leading advocate for the abolition of slavery in the 19th century and has won multiple Pulitzer Prizes during its history.
The Block family, operated by twin brothers John and Allan Block, acquired the paper in 1927. In a statement, the family said it “deeply regretted” the decision's impact on Pittsburgh.
“The Block family is proud of the service the Post-Gazette has provided to Pittsburgh for nearly a century and will exit with their dignity intact,” the statement read.
The Post-Gazette currently publishes print editions on Thursdays and Sundays, with an average paid circulation of 83,000.