The ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

serving

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in the United States. Although it transitioned to an all-digital format on December 1, 2016, it remains the second largest daily in the state, with nearly one million unique page views a month. Founded on August 22, 1811, as the ''Greensburg Gazette'' and in 1889 consolidated with several papers into the ''Greensburg Tribune-Review'', the paper circulated only in the eastern suburban counties of Westmoreland and parts of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and Fayette until May 1992, when it began serving all of the

Pittsburgh metropolitan area Greater Pittsburgh is a populous region centered around its largest city and economic hub, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The region encompasses Pittsburgh's urban core county, Allegheny, and six adjacent Pennsylvania counties: Armstrong, Beaver, ...

after a strike at the two Pittsburgh dailies, the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'' and ''

Pittsburgh Press ''The Pittsburgh Press'' (formerly ''The Pittsburg Press'' and originally ''The Evening Penny Press'') was a major afternoon daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1884 to 1992. At one time, the ''Press'' was the second larg ...

'', deprived the city of a newspaper for several months. The Tribune-Review Publishing Company was owned by

Richard Mellon Scaife Richard Mellon Scaife (; July 3, 1932 – July 4, 2014) was an American billionaire, a principal heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune, and the owner and publisher of the ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review''. In 2005, Scaife was n ...

, an heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune, until his death in July 2014. Scaife was a major funder of conservative organizations, including the

Arkansas Project The Arkansas Project was a series of investigative press reports, funded primarily by conservative businessman Richard Mellon Scaife, that focused on criticism of then-President Bill Clinton and his administration. Scaife spent nearly $2 million on ...

. Accordingly, the ''Tribune-Review'' has maintained a conservative editorial stance, contrasting with the then-more liberal ''Post-Gazette'' before that paper's own editorial shift in 2018. In addition to its flagship paper, the company publishes 17 weekly community newspapers, the ''Pittsburgh Pennysaver'', as well as TribLive.com and TribTotalMedia.com.

History

Origin

The paper began as the ''Gazette'' on August 22, 1811. After a series of name changes and mergers it became the ''Greensburg Daily Tribune'' in 1889. In 1924, it and the ''Greensburg Morning Review'', launched by David J. Berry in 1903, consolidated their interests under a single ownership. Both papers continued separate publication until 1955, when they merged to form the ''Greensburg Tribune-Review''. Scaife bought the ''Tribune-Review'' in 1970. Scaife was a decade early in trying to unarm the ''Post-Gazette''. In 1981–82, he started a short-lived eastern suburbs paper, ''The Daily-Sunday Tribune''.

Kent State and the Pulitzer

The Tribune-Review owns several "satellite" papers that insert or surround the regional publication with neighborhood-specific stories. The ''Valley News Dispatch'', of Pittsburgh suburbs

Tarentum Tarentum may refer to: * Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras) **See also History of Taranto * Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...

and

New Kensington New Kensington, known locally as New Ken, is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It is situated along the Allegheny River, northeast of Pittsburgh. The population was 12,170 at the 2010 census. History Like much of Westmoreland Cou ...

is one such satellite. Local journalism student

John Filo John Paul Filo (; born August 21, 1948) is an American photographer whose picture of 14-year-old Runaway (dependent), runaway Mary Ann Vecchio screaming while kneeling over the dead body of 20-year-old Jeffrey Miller (shooting victim), Jeffrey Mil ...

worked for the publication while attending nearby

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

and served as the ''Valley News Dispatch''s correspondent of the

Kent State shootings The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre,"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years bef ...

. His photography that day has ascended to iconic status and won the paper its only

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

1990s expansion, and ''North Hills News Record''

Pittsburgh newspaper consolidation timeline

During a newspaper strike that temporarily shut down the ''Post-Gazette'' and ultimately closed the ''Pittsburgh Press'', Scaife launched the ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', an edition of the Greensburg-based ''Tribune-Review'' covering

Allegheny County Allegheny County () is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's seco ...

and Pittsburgh. Over time, it became a stand-alone newspaper headquartered on Pittsburgh's North Side. In 1997, Scaife added to his small collection of newspapers by purchasing ''The Daily Courier'' of

Connellsville Connellsville is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Pittsburgh and away via the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the Monongahela River. It is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 7,637 at th ...

, the ''Leader Times'' of Kittanning and ''The Valley Independent'' of Monessen from

Thomson Newspapers The Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organisation Ltd (ITOL) and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to form ...

. In late 1997, Scaife's NewsWorks facility opened in the North Hills. In December 1997, the Tribune-Review company purchased the ''North Hills News Record'', even though four months earlier, then-Trib president Ed Harrell told the ''Pittsburgh Business Times'' that the company was not interested in the ''News Record''. Nine months after purchasing the ''North Hills News Record'' from

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

2000s mergers and consolidations

In 2000, the Trib announced it would convert its

Irwin Irwin may refer to: Places ;United States * Irwin, California * Irwin, Idaho * Irwin, Illinois * Irwin, Iowa * Irwin, Nebraska * Irwin, Ohio * Irwin, Pennsylvania * Irwin, South Carolina * Irwin County, Georgia * Irwin Township, Venango County, Pe ...

-based paper, the daily (except Sunday) ''Standard Observer'', into a twice-weekly regional section of the Greensburg ''Tribune-Review''. Citing a "sagging economy", the Trib laid off more than four percent of its workforce in 2003, including

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

s. More shakeups continued in 2005 as circulation numbers dropped and a top official left. An online message board featured back and forth fights between Pittsburgh and Greensburg employees. Edward Harrell, then-president of the Tribune-Review Publishing Company, announced in January 2005 that most of the regional editions of the paper would have their newsroom, management, and circulation departments merged, and staff reductions would follow. The merged papers include the ''Tribune-Review'' of Greensburg, the ''Valley News Dispatch'' of

, ''The Leader-Times'' of Kittanning, ''The Daily Courier'' of Connellsville and the ''Blairsville Dispatch''. ''The Valley Independent'', the only paper with a unionized newsroom and contract, was not affected. The company incorporated as Trib Total Media in the summer of 2005 and purchased Gateway Newspapers, a community publication group servicing approximately 22 communities, at the time, in and around Pittsburgh's Allegheny County. The company immediately laid off two managers. The exact number of proposed redundancies was not announced. In September 2005, Harrell announced his retirement as president of Tribune-Review Publishing Company, effective December 31, 2005. He had served as president since 1989. Several staff writers were laid off in December 2005 as two of Gateway's newspapers were discontinued. In May 2008, the ''Post-Gazette'' and the Trib reached a deal for one company to deliver both papers. The Post-Gazette would begin delivering the Trib to most of the area with some exceptions. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. On June 20, 2008, Trib Total Media publicly announced it was closing several weekly newspapers in the Gateway Newspapers chain. The papers affected include: ''Bridgeville Area News'', ''North Journal'', ''McKnight Journal'', ''Woodland Progress'', ''Penn Hills Progress'', ''Coraopolis-Moon Record'' and the ''Advance Leader''. Many of those papers were several decades old. The company also announced major changes to the remaining Gateway publications including a revamp of the Pennysaver in the communities that have Gateway newspapers. Several published reports say the remaining community newspapers would expand coverage to include areas no longer serviced by Gateway publications. Other Gateway newspapers will now serve the communities served by those titles.

2015 restructuring

In November, 2015, Trib Total Media announced that they would be cutting back on home delivery of printed newspapers and emphasize digital delivery. The restructuring included the sale of two dailies and six weeklies to West Penn Media. Two papers were closed, ''The Daily News'' in McKeesport, and ''The Valley Independent'' in Monessen. The remaining papers, in Pittsburgh, Greensburg and Tarentum, became regional editions of a single title, the ''Tribune-Review''. Home delivery was reduced in some parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. Trib Total Media laid off 153 full and part-time workers from its staff of approximately 1,100, another 68 had accepted buyouts in October. The Pittsburgh edition of the ''Tribune-Review'' went "all-digital" after it published its last print edition on November 30, 2016. The Greensburg-based Westmoreland edition and the Tarentum-based Valley News Dispatch edition remained in print.

Investigations, national attention

Carl Prine Carl Prine (born November 3, 1966) is a military Investigative journalism, investigative reporter who worked for the ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'' from 2000 to 2016 and was involved in a number of investigations into the security of various US facil ...

, an investigative reporter for the newspaper, conducted a probe with the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

news magazine ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

'' that highlighted the lack of security at the nation's most dangerous chemical plants following the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

. The reporters, and a CBS camera operator, were charged with trespassing at a Neville Island plant during their investigation. They were later acquitted when the judge accepted that the story had been in the public interest. In 2007, Prine's further investigation into the subject was featured in the PBS documentary series Exposé: America's Investigative Reports, in a two-part episode titled "Think Like A Terrorist." One Tribune-Review flap went national when Colin McNickle, then editor of the newspaper's editorial page, attended a July 26, 2004 speech at the

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

State House given by

Teresa Heinz Kerry Teresa Heinz (born Maria Teresa Thierstein Simões-Ferreira; October 5, 1938), also known as Teresa Heinz Kerry, is a Portuguese-American businesswoman and philanthropist. Heinz is the widow of former U.S. Senator John Heinz and the wife of fo ...

, who had been the subject of two negative articles in the Tribune-Review's opinion pages. After the speech, there was a dispute between McNickle and Heinz Kerry over her use of the term "un-American activity."

Circulation

The daily ''Tribune-Review'' is published in three geographic editions: Pittsburgh, Westmoreland, and Valley News Dispatch. The ''Tribune-Review'' claimed to show the highest gains in readership over the past five years of any newspaper in America's top 48 markets, which were dominated by sinking readership. The growth can be attributed to purchases of other newspapers, which were then reclassified as editions of the ''Tribune-Review''. This idea was proposed to Scaife and Ralph Martin by David Horchak, the Circulation Director of The Valley News Dispatch. Taking advantage of ABC Ryles that allowed declaring newspapers to include all circulation of a newspaper to be declared editions of a main newspaper. This did not keep David Horchak on when the ''Tribune-Review'' decided to have just two circulation directors after personnel cuts. According to surveys by International Demographics Inc., an independent media research firm in Houston, the number of ''Tribune-Review'' readers jumped 17.8 percent from 2007 to 2012. As part of the Trib Total Media conglomerate, the ''Tribune-Review'' has a news exchange partnership with WPXI, Pittsburgh's NBC affiliate. Until 2013, it was a sister publication to Pittsburgh's second-largest news radio station,

KQV KQV (1410 AM) is a non-commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and covering the Greater Pittsburgh Region. Owned by Broadcast Educational Communications, the station simulcasts FM 88.1 WKGO in Murrysville and airs an easy liste ...

. Trib Total Media is the Official Newspaper of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

and the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

(the latter of which Scaife was a co-founder in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

). It has strong partnerships with many nonprofit and community businesses and organizations throughout Western Pennsylvania.

Notes and references

External links

* *
"Trials and Trib-ulations: An insider's look at Pittsburgh's second daily"
''

Pittsburgh City Paper The ''Pittsburgh City Paper'' is Pittsburgh's leading alternative weekly newspaper which focuses on local news, opinion, and arts and entertainment. It bought out ''In Pittsburgh Weekly'' in 2001. As of April 2015, ''City Paper'' is the 14th l ...

'', September 1, 2005 {{Newspapers published in Pennsylvania 1889 establishments in Pennsylvania Conservative media in the United States Daily newspapers published in Pennsylvania Newspapers established in 1889 Newspapers published in Pittsburgh