I lived in Pennsylvania for about 20 years—in Philadelphia and the surrounding ‘burbs. I got to know Pittsburgh through friends who called the city home and trips down the PA Turnpike (a gorgeous drive, by the way) to visit with them. It’s a city integral to American history and innovation—a city that saw industry come and go, forcing it to reinvent itself. It rose to the challenge.
With three rivers converging, it’s also a part of the state well-concerned with conservation and pollution. Fracking hasn’t helped.
Pittsburgh has always seemed to me a city in need of a robust news presence and journalists unafraid to tell its stories—the bad, as well as the good. And make no mistake, there’s lots of good, too. But if there’s anyone who can ensure that Pittsburgh’s news media landscape flourishes, it’s Andrew Conte, Ph.D., director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University.
I spoke with Dr. Conte for E&P’s June issue—about the Center, local news sustainability, citizen journalism, and an exciting new collaboration between otherwise-competitive news media publishers around the city and suburbs. It’s a new “news ecosystem” for the city, and another example of how Pittsburgh continues to be a place of reinvention and innovation.
Read the story for free at the link, and share your thoughts on Conte’s vision in the comments.
Gretchen A. Peck 