Our Story
The Pittsburgh Progress is a cooperative news organization, owned and democratically run by its workers and members. It was formed in the weeks and months after owners of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced on Jan. 7, 2026, their intention to close the newspaper. This move by the PG came just weeks after unionized workers there had won a strike that lasted more than three years.
Those workers and their community supporters initially formed the organization Pittsburgh Alliance for People-Empowered Reporting, or PAPER, with a mandate to research the creation of a daily news outlet more deserving of Pittsburgh. PAPER quickly resolved that any new publication would, unlike the Block-owned Post-Gazette, address the concerns of all working-class people in the region and respect its employees. The publication would serve as an essential and sustainable source of communication and connection in the Pittsburgh region.
PAPER’s research determined that a worker- and community-owned daily news co-op would provide the best opportunity to deliver on its values. PAPER’s members raised funds to build a business plan and a website and began discussing the issues, events and areas the publication would cover. Residents who attended our two town hall meetings gave us valuable input.
Steve Mellon/Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh
Steve Mellon/Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh
Workers and their supporters decided on a newspaper name — the Pittsburgh Progress — in a nod to the striking PG workers’ award-winning strike publication, the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Work continues on the Pittsburgh Progress website, marketing strategy and the building of a newsroom.
We continue to raise funds to lift up worker-centered journalism in Western Pennsylvania. Those funds will be used to hire full-time staff and freelance journalists dedicated to looking out for, and telling the stories of, the working-class people who form the heart and soul of our diverse communities.
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