“Will Pittsburgh become America’s most important city without a newspaper?” Josh asked in January.
The answer, we learned Tuesday, is no: The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, the nonprofit parent organization of The Baltimore Banner, reached an agreement with Block Communications to acquire the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which was slated to shut down in May.
It’s a dramatic, if not entirely unpredicted, development for two news organizations whose opposite trajectories reflect some broader trends in the world of local news. The Post-Gazette is a beleaguered, historic metro daily whose union completed a divisive 1,133-day strike over health benefits last November. The NewsGuild technically won in court, but in January, Block Communications announced the newspaper’s financial losses were untenable and that it would print its final edition May 3.
The Banner, meanwhile, is a national poster child for nonprofit news success. Since its founding in 2022, when Maryland businessman and Venetoulis chairman and founder Stewart Bainum pledged $50 million over about five years to the news outlet, it has won a Pulitzer, grown into the state’s largest newsroom, and rebranded from The Baltimore Banner to The Banner, even expanding coverage into D.C.’s suburbs after Washington Post layoffs. (The Banner has not yet broken even.)
When Josh wrote about the Post-Gazette’s expected closure back in January, he observed that the Block family’s internal divisions and baggage might have stymied philanthropic support of local news in Pittsburgh. “Pittsburgh has been kind of stuck,” he wrote. “There’s pent-up capacity for something like the Lenfest Institute-era Philadelphia Inquirer or The Baltimore Banner — either a nonprofit conversion of the local daily or a robust competitor/replacement for it. But Block family drama — along with the neverending strike — complicated things enough to prevent much action.”
He even added: “The fact that the Post-Gazette announced a closure date that’s still five months off means there’ll be time for some combination of Pittsburgh’s foundations, universities, and institutions to react. Maybe that looks like the Blocks donating the Post-Gazette to a nonprofit that carries on with a decent-sized newsroom — a version of what the Salt Lake Tribune has done.”
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but The New York Times reported that Bainum and his wife Sandy will commit an additional $30 million over the next five years “to help expand The Banner and turn around the Post-Gazette.” In a note to Banner subscribers Tuesday, Venetoulis Institute CEO Bob Cohn wrote that the “generous investment is designed to taper over time as revenue grows, putting us on a clear path to full financial sustainability.” The transaction will take effect May 4.
The Times also reported that Venetoulis was neither the only nor the highest bidder for The Banner — Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund known for gutting newspapers, was among the rival contenders.
“The Block family has worked to find the best possible source for responsible local journalism for the Pittsburgh region and we believe we have succeeded,” said Karen Johnese, chairperson of Block Communications, Inc, in a statement. Block Communications did not return my call for comment.
In his note to Banner subscribers, Cohn framed the acquisition as a move that lifts all boats and, specifically, “strengthens our work in Baltimore and throughout Maryland.” Spreading the cost across a broader business, he wrote, accelerates The Banner’s path to sustainability and “makes the model stronger and more durable here in Maryland as well as in Pittsburgh….Throughout this growth, our commitment to Maryland remains unchanged and central to everything we do.”
“From its launch in 2021, the Venetoulis Institute had a vision to create a nonprofit business model to address the local news crisis playing out across the country,” Banner VP of editorial and business development Monique Jones told me in an email. While that work began in Baltimore and has expanded across Maryland, the ambition of the Venetoulis Institute “has always been to take that model to other regions.” The Venetoulis team sees promise for replicating The Banner’s model in regions that “[care] deeply about the impact of local news on its communities with audiences willing to pay for news and a supportive business and philanthropic environment.”
Venetoulis expects to reach sustainability “in the next few years,” and has no plans for acquisitions or expansions beyond Maryland and Pennsylvania at this time, Jones added.
According to the Post-Gazette’s reporting, Venetoulis plans to continue the newspaper’s two print publication days; Jones confirmed those plans. While the Times reported that new ownership plans to hire back “a large number” of the Post-Gazette’s employees and run advertising and sponsorships locally, Bainum told the Post-Gazette that the “current business model does not support the size of the current newsroom,” which stands at around 100, adding, “We’re going to have to thoughtfully address that.” Jones said it’s “too early to know” how many Post-Gazette employees Venetoulis will rehire. She added that Venetoulis plans to combine back-end operations including finance, HR, subscription marketing, and technology into a shared services platform that supports sustainability across both organizations.
“Local journalism is essential to a strong community, but across the country the business model has been under severe strain,” Bainum said in a statement. “We believe there is a path forward — one that combines great journalism with a diversified business model built on scale and exceptional talent.”
“Banner leadership has already publicly indicated that it intends to cut jobs and not uphold our union contract,” the Pittsburgh NewsGuild noted in a statement. “Asset sales do not inherently get companies out from under the legal liabilities they have already incurred. The Nov. 10, 2025 U.S. 3rd Circuit Court ruling requires the company to pay back all bargaining unit employees for the costs the paper illegally passed onto them. That liability does not go away with the sale of the paper.”
“We are excited for this historic institution to survive,” the NewsGuild added, “and eager to ensure that it operates in a way that respects the people of Pittsburgh, and the journalists who strive to serve them.”
Updated April 15 with additional answers from The Banner.
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