FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK
Today 90 years ago, Aug. 2, 1927, my grandfather, Paul Block, publishedthe first issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, combining the Pittsburgh Post and the Pittsburgh Gazette Times into one morning newspaper.
The controversial deal also involved William Randolph Hearst, America’s most powerful media mogul at the time. The two men, close friends and business partners in other cities, simultaneously took controlof four of the five daily papers in Pittsburgh. They swapped and merged them into two: the Post-Gazetteas the city’s only morning newspaper, and Hearst’s Pittsburgh SunTelegraph as an afternoon rival to Scripps-Howard’s Pittsburgh Press. Only a few years earlier, Pittsburgh had had seven daily newspapers, not countinga German-language daily.
Today only the Pittsburgh PostGazette continues as a daily newspaper in this city. That survival meant overcoming many challenges over the nine decades: the economics of the Great Depression, a 1930s boycott by the steelworkers union because of editorials against the New Deal, 31 years in an agency with our rival The Pittsburgh Press. More recently, there was a local billionaire’s quixotic use of a substantial part of his fortune to oust us as Pittsburgh’s largest, most influential news organization. Occasional aggressive, illconceived lawsuits sought to punish thepaper for doing its job.
Through all of the challenges over the decades, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has persevered and prevailed. We’ve won Pulitzer Prizes and changed the face of the region, helping lead public opinion to clean up theair; create the Regional Asset District; reform county government; and build the facilities needed to keep professional sports teams. With those efforts and more, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has always foughtfor a “progress agenda.”
Many people connected with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette over decades were legends. As publisher, myuncle William Block spent nearly six decades of his life promoting progress and decency in Pittsburgh. Editors Frank Hawkins and John G. Craig Jr. championed many reforms and improvements while keeping the reporting straight and strong. With a gentle touch, editorial cartoonist Cyrus Hungerford pricked the conscience as he illuminated the problems of his era. Sports editor Al Abrams founded the Dapper Dan Club, a charity that still bestows many blessings on this city. The rostercould go on and on.
Now we face the challenges of a changing media environment affecting all traditional media. I promise our readers and Pittsburgh that we will strive to overcome these hard times. I would also like to take this moment to thank our readers and our advertisers for their many years ofloyalty and continuing support.
In his announcement on that day in1927, my grandfather wrote:
“It will be our ambition to have the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a newspaper of which everyone may be proud. Its policies will be independent and the newspaper will be of such high character as to insure its welcomeinto every home.” Ican’t say it any better.
JohnRobinson Block Publisherand editor-in-chief