The unexpected closure of the Pittsburgh City Paper was already a serious blow to journalism in western Pennsylvania, but what’s upcoming for the Post-Gazette (PG) is also upsetting.

For the longest time, people in Point Park’s journalism program didn’t have to go far to find a career and, if they were good students, keep doing what they were doing in their four years of undergraduate education. Campus is on and near the Boulevard of the Allies and the Post-Gazette was just a short walk down the street.

This hasn’t technically been the reality for a while now, as the old PG building is empty. But the point still stands, the offices are just a T ride away.

I have been extremely critical of the PG for my entire post-secondary career and then some. My opinion of the paper soured ever since their management barred Alexis Johnson, a Black reporter, from covering Black Lives Matter protests because of a tweet she made comparing trash strewn up by Kenny Chesney concertgoers to property damage caused by rioting after the protests ended.

Say what you will about the tweet — I found it accurate and funny — but the fact Johnson could no longer cover the protests while a white reporter who made similar remarks still could is wrong. Combining this with the family drama from the PG’s ownership, Block Communications Inc. (BCI) and the three-year long strike, it became super easy to stop supporting the paper.

But while the ownership and management made bad decisions, the journalists who did the real work still deserve appreciation even after 2020 and even while on strike. The newspaper’s closure should not fall on them, as much as the PG wants to blame the writers union for it.

The reality is that any venture which can only profit by not giving workers basic benefits and consistently undervaluing yet overworking them, is a venture that needs to go. Time was up for the PG as soon as contracts were ripped up.

With the looming closure of what was a storied institution for much of its existence comes plenty of talk. Is Pittsburgh going to be the only major city without a newspaper? Are we headed toward a news desert in western Pennsylvania? Can journalists never find a job here ever again?

The answer to all those questions should be a firm no. Saying the PG was the only place for journalism in the region ignores the hard work of the Tribune-Review – which is bringing back a Pittsburgh edition in response to the PG’s closure, Pittsburgh’s PublicSource, 90.5 WESA and at least 37 other outlets.

Additionally, there are talks to see if a community-run version of the PG or something like it can work, as well as a non-profit newsroom like the Philadelphia Inquirer. Any concept of starting a new media outlet or picking up the pieces of what’s left should be met with curiosity and feedback, because this does affect everyone.

The free flow of information is incredibly valuable to a functioning democracy. All of us, whether readers or writers, should participate in discussions to see what’s next.

It’s tough to say what the future of journalism may look like here, but the next step is not death. Anyone pushing an alarmist narrative that the PG was the region’s only valuable outlet and has left the city in a bad place needs to either do more research on what’s available, stop defending an organization that did not care about Pittsburgh, or try to figure out what’s moving forward.

Interestingly, the Block family has a firm hold over Toledo’s media landscape, with Toledo Blade as its newspaper and the entire Buckeye Cable Sports Network. Throughout the state, they control other TV stations, have their own internet service provider (ISP) and a fiber optic cable company.

This same concept was not attempted in Pittsburgh, which could also be a reason for the PG’s closure. While the Blocks have a notable hold of Ohio’s media, the same is not true here, and that’s a good thing.

For now, we all need to wait and see what’s next. Journalism is here to stay.