Editorial: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s digital shift more than “tough” for 106 laid off

In most cases, reporters becoming the center of a story is a sign something’s gone wrong. Sometimes, though, it’s worth acknowledging the people behind the curtain.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, one of the city’s flagship newspapers, announced Wednesday it would cease publication of a print newspaper within Pittsburgh Nov. 30, in order to focus fully on its digital product. Along with the shift to digital-only, the paper’s announcement said it would be expanding coverage of Allegheny County news beyond the city limits.

“Our Westmoreland and Valley News Dispatch readers are loyal to these newspapers, and we want to give them even more of the local coverage that will keep them coming back every day,” President and CEO Jennifer Bertetto said in a post on the outlet’s website.

Unfortunately, the Trib’s retreat from print distribution came complete with a basic error in journalistic writing: It buried the lede. The paper’s transition will result in 106 employees losing their jobs, a month after 95 others took voluntary buyouts and less than a year after the Trib laid off 153 more. But that gets only one line in the story, which spends most of its space framing this as a push toward the future rather than an admission that its market is shrinking.

As a publication responsible for producing physical newspapers every day class is in session, we get it. Physical media is hemorrhaging money, and there’s no end in sight — especially in a relatively small city with options for local news outnumbering most large ones. The problem here isn’t the modernized distribution model the Trib is taking, which supposedly will offer free, customizable digital publications — it’s the presentation.

Lost jobs are a normal consequence of technological change, regardless of industry, but the Trib’s announcement spends one sentence and a hollow public relations quote from Bertetto acknowledging the lost positions.  

That’s not to say she or the Trib takes layoffs lightly, because surely she cares about her employees. Still, calling the move a “tough decision” is the best a building full of writers can offer?

These are real people with families to support. Many of them are likely the ones in charge of producing the physical publication, so their jobs are now obsolete. They understand that. They are also likely to understand that the job market for newspaper printers isn’t quite booming, and that their chances of finding work in this region — or even the same industry — are slim.

That’s not worth more than a quick remark about the pressure on people getting to stick around? Nov. 30, will be a sad day for everyone involved, but putting the spotlight on leaders rather than those most affected is the type of coldness generally reserved for Fortune 500 corporations where employees have always been just a number.

At newspapers, unlike multinational companies, people have always been the proud foundation of the business: people sharing stories, people writing stories, people holding powerful people accountable. The product — be it a newspaper, a newsletter or an online article — is the result of the oft-unrewarded, tireless work of a steadfast group of people.

The Trib is losing more than 100 of its own and marketing it in a shiny new package.

Change has to come to the newspaper industry, we know. But let’s be honest about the way that change is coming about — for some people, it’s at a cost, and there’s nothing wrong with being sentimental about that.

Hopefully the Trib’s new ventures are successful. Its coverage of Pittsburgh’s surrounding areas is consistently the most extensive and valuable available, and a profitable digital platform may one day recoup the jobs lost.

For the sake of journalism in general, we need companies able to embrace change and continually innovate. But that doesn’t mean they should forget those who brought them there.