• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, Yesterday

Only a few months ago, the news coming out of Western Pennsylvania was grim – it looked like the biggest newspaper in the area, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was set to close. 

But it didn’t happen, and Pittsburgh remains one hot news town. 

For starters, the 340-year-old Post-Gazette was sold on May 4 to the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, publisher of the The Baltimore Banner.  

And now the second largest news organization in the area has expanded its coverage in the Pittsburgh market. 

Trib Total Media is launching an investigative newsroom that will focus on original accountability reporting in the area, TribLive reports.

The project, called Newsworks Lab, will be headed by veteran journalist Andrew Conte, who is leaving Point Park University, where he led the Center for Media Innovation for a decade. And it will be backed by a $1.25 million seed investment from Trib Total Media.

“We see this as an investment in the public good,” said Jennifer Bertetto, president and CEO of Trib Total Media, TribLive continues. “Quality journalism holds institutions accountable and connects communities, and Newsworks Lab is designed to strengthen both.”

Newsworks Lab will partner with regional colleges and universities and other news outlets, including its own TribLive, which reported this story.

“If local journalism is going to thrive, it has to evolve,” Conte says. “Innovation gives us the tools to tell deeper stories, reach wider audiences, and rebuild trust in the communities we serve. That’s the future we’re building at Newsworks Lab.”

The name has a proud heritage – Newsworks was the plant where the company’s flagship newspaper, the Tribune-Review, was published. 

Newsworks Lab will be located on Pittsburgh’s north shore, which can be reached by subway.