Newsroom: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Stephen Torres
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read
http://www.post-gazette.com/

The news website that I chose to work with over the semester is the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Post-Gazette focuses on local Pittsburgh news along with coverage of some national news. According to their own website, the Post-Gazette is the largest newspaper in Western Pennsylvania, their website reaching almost 1 million people each week.

My decision to choose the Post-Gazette was based solely on its location. I have family that live in Pittsburgh and the city has always been an interest to me.

When I was exploring the site and reading the stories posted I kept in mind to look for any topics that were posted about more than others, what their target audience might be, and what side politically do they lean on.

While what side of the political spectrum are they on can be answered by looking at articles posted in the politics section, the other two questions have different answers depending on if you are on their main site or their social media.

The Post-Gazette has three social media accounts up and running. Looking at them individually, they have a different focus for each one.

Their Instagram mostly posts local human interest stories and images of the weather in Pittsburgh. The account is updated every other day, with a link in the bio that is tied to the most recent story.

The Post-Gazette’s Twitter is filled with local sports and news along with national politics. Multiple posts are released hourly with the same header in the link and tweet.

Their Facebook account has a mix of human interest, sports, news, and politics. They update this hourly with short blurbs of the article in the caption.

The Facebook and Twitter feed could be automated due to the frequency of the posting. Their Instagram is not as consistent as the other two accounts, however I think most of it is largely automated.

Looking back at the questions I had about this newspaper it seems anything related to sports is the most popular news topic. Their website is organized to show every subject they report on but their social media each have a specific focus and audience. Twitter has the more immediate news updates and is updated hourly. Their Instagram has a more relaxed update schedule and it’s captions have more of a human interest element than the other two. Facebook seems to be a happy medium of their Instagram and twitter. There does not seem to be one topic that gets more attention on Facebook. I also believe the Post-gazette is left leaning on the political spectrum based on the lack of critique of democratic or “left-wing” officials.

Stephen Torres

Written by

That girl.

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