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 lasting 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, respect its employees and address the concerns of all working-class people in the region. 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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