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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7. The closure follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to deny Block’s bid to stay a U.S. 3rd Circuit Court order that the Post-Gazette reinstate a contractual healthcare plan it had agreed to before illegally tearing it up in 2020. The last edition of the publication will be on May 3. The Post-Gazette ended daily print publication in 2018, with just two print editions per week (Sunday and Thursday), and has been online-only the rest of the week. In a pre-recorded, 2½-minute Zoom video that informed Post-Gazette staffers of the closing, Block Communications president Jodi Miehls said that nonunion members who stay on until publication stops will have severance packages available, and that the company will work with union representatives to determine unionized employee packages. Last week, Block shuttered Pittsburgh City Paper, an alternative weekly. “Over the past 20 years, Block Communications has lost more than $350 million in cash operating the Post-Gazette,” a state from the Post-Gazette said. “The realities facing local journalism make continued cash losses at this scale no longer sustainable.”
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| Will Welch |
GQ editor Will Welch, who has led American GQ since 2018 and was named global editorial director two years later, is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton. Welch has also led Condé Nast’s online music publication Pitchfork. He wrote on his Instagram page that his last day in his current job will be Feb. 15. His departure follows the departure of Anna Wintour from the editor spot at American Vogue and Radhika Jones from the top of the masthead at Vanity Fair in 2025. Condé Nast also folded its Teen Vogue unit into Vogue’s website last year. In a November interview with the New York Times, Welch talked about digital’s rising power and the decline of print, noting that for younger readers, GQ was not seen as a print magazine but as a YouTube channel.
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Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. The digital media company generated $2 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization on revenue of $40 million in 2025. It plans to use the money as part of a global expansion. While existing backers such as KKR co-founder Henry Kravis, Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein and Gallup account for more than half of the funding, the list of new backers includes PSP, the investment firm founded by Penny Pritzker; Belgian entrepreneur Thomas Leysen and Antenna Group. With a current journalist headcount of 55 to 60, Semafor anticipates adding as many as 20 more in the next few years to beef up coverage of U.S. politics, the finance industry and the tech sector. Though the company currently has no paywall in place, CEO Justin Smith told Reuters that it plans to explore subscription opportunities.
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