As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shuts its doors later this year, what will take its place in the city?
The news is still sinking in: After a history stretching back more than 200 years, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will cease publication on May 3, leaving the city without a daily newspaper.
The closure later this year will make Pittsburgh the only major city in America without a daily newspaper, a loss civic leaders say would have reverberations throughout the entire region.
"A daily news report of some real substance is critical for the business community, for the political community, the academic community, the rest of the non-profit community," said Maxwell King. "Hey, it's important for us in terms of sports. We got to start the day reading something about the Steelers, even if it's not good news."
In the wake of the announcement, attention turns to Pittsburgh's foundation community for help. King is the former editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, which is now funded by a non-profit foundation. More recently, he served as president of the Pittsburgh Foundation, and he believes the foundations here are poised to step up.
"I know from talking to a number of people in the foundation community, a strong commitment in the foundation community to do something for Pittsburgh," he said.
Over the past five years, five Pittsburgh foundations have run a consortium called Press Forward, pumping $21 million into local journalism, funding independent media organizations like Public Source and the investigative newsroom Spotlight PA.
Andrew Conte, the managing director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University, says those foundations are already in talks about some kind of Post-Gazette successor.
"We're very fortunate in Pittsburgh," Conte said. "We have a foundation community that is informed about this issue. They're invested in it, they've been putting their money into it, and they're already sitting around a table saying what can be done in this moment?"
Conte says there are various models for a new source of daily journalism, and the Press Forward group wants to serve as an open ear and a clearing house for ideas and interested parties before committing to one.
"There's been a burst of creative activity and ideas, and people are coming forward saying, 'Hey, what if we try this? What if we try something different?'" Conte said.
It seems clear that any new news organization will be online and not in print. And given its debts and liabilities, it likely will not carry the name of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. But King says time is of the essence.
"This is what I think is critical: We have to find a solution for the future this year," he said.
It appears there will be a successor to the Post-Gazette, and the foundations are likely to play a major role. What it will be and how soon remain open questions.