The financially struggling Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said on April 14 that it found a new buyer a little more than two weeks before it was expected to shut down.

The Pennsylvania newspaper previously said on Jan. 7 that it was closing its doors after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected its request to avoid restoring a workers’ benefits package from a 12-year-old labor agreement. It had been scheduled to cease operations on May 3, after losing more than $350 million over the past 20 years.

The newspaper, which traces its history back to 1786, was the first to open west of the Allegheny Mountains. Its closure would have made Pittsburgh the nation’s largest community lacking a city-based newspaper.

The publication’s owner, Block Communications, said on April 14 that the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, which operates The Baltimore Banner, agreed to acquire its assets. Details of the financial transaction were not disclosed.

The purchase will take effect on May 4, the nonprofit Venetoulis Institute said in a statement.

Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, the Venetoulis Institute states on its website that it was founded “in response to the nationwide erosion of local news, with many media organizations shutting down, downsizing to survive, or being purchased by hedge funds with a single-minded focus on financial returns.”

Block and Venetoulis issued a joint statement saying the new deal reflects “a shared commitment to sustaining local journalism in Pittsburgh.”

Venetoulis CEO Bob Cohn said his organization was committed “to working with exceptional journalists, along with civic and business leaders across the region, to build a new future for local journalism in Western Pennsylvania.”

Andrew Goldstein, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, which is Local 38061 of the Communications Workers of America, reacted to the sale.

“The Post-Gazette staying open is a win for Pittsburgh, and we are glad to see that legacy continue into the future,” Goldstein told The Epoch Times.

“The community has made it clear over the past several months that it wants a newspaper that serves the needs of the people. That requires a robust staff that has the freedom to pursue the truth under dignified working conditions,” he said.

The initial Jan. 7 decision to shutter the newspaper came the same day as the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit injunction that required newspaper management to honor the health insurance coverage package that was in effect when a collective bargaining agreement between the Newspaper Guild and the newspaper previously lapsed.

The Newspaper Guild’s three-year strike against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ended in November 2025.

An administrative law judge previously found that newspaper management violated the National Labor Relations Act “by bargaining in bad faith, unlawfully declaring impasse, and surveilling employees in the exercise of their rights under the Act.”

The judge ordered the company to reinstate the terms of the previous contract, including health care coverage, while bargaining for a new agreement. The Third Circuit upheld the ruling.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article by Matthew Vadum appeared April 14, 2026, in The Epoch Times.