Supreme Court Ruling KILLS 240-Year-Old Newspaper

The Supreme Court building featuring marble columns and a clear blue sky

Within hours of the Supreme Court rejecting their final legal appeal, the owners of America’s sixth-oldest newspaper announced they would rather kill the 240-year-old Pittsburgh Post-Gazette than comply with federal labor law.

Story Snapshot

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will cease all operations on May 3, 2026, ending 240 years of continuous publication
Closure announced hours after Supreme Court denied company’s request to avoid restoring union health benefits
Block Communications claims $350 million in losses over 20 years, but timing suggests retaliation against union victory
Decision follows three-year strike and multiple court rulings finding company violated federal labor law
Pittsburgh loses both major newspapers simultaneously, creating potential news desert in major American city

The Supreme Court Triggers a Corporate Tantrum

On a January morning in 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Block Communications’ emergency request to avoid complying with court-ordered health care benefits for union workers. By that afternoon, the company announced it would shut down the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette entirely rather than honor the contract terms a federal court had ordered them to restore.

The timing reveals the company’s true motivations. Block Communications spent millions fighting their own employees in court for over three years, losing at every level from administrative law judges to federal appeals courts. When they finally exhausted their legal options, they chose the nuclear option rather than simply following the law.

A Three-Year War Against Their Own Employees

The Post-Gazette’s death spiral began in July 2020 when management unilaterally tore up their union contract and imposed worse health benefits and working conditions. This wasn’t negotiation—it was corporate dictate. Workers had gone over 20 years without across-the-board wage increases, accepting shared sacrifice to keep their paper alive.

Editorial workers struck in October 2022, demanding restoration of their legally binding contract. The company’s response was to lawyer up and fight every ruling that went against them. Administrative law judges, the National Labor Relations Board, and the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals all reached the same conclusion: Block Communications had violated federal labor law.

The Block Family’s Scorched Earth Strategy

Block Communications has owned the Post-Gazette since 1927, making them stewards of nearly a century of Pittsburgh journalism. Their recent conduct suggests they forgot the difference between owning a newspaper and owning the news itself. The company claims $350 million in operating losses over 20 years, yet they found money to fund endless legal appeals rather than honor their workers’ contracts.

Union president Andrew Goldstein nailed the company’s mentality: they “couldn’t bust the union, so they shut down the paper.” This isn’t about unsustainable losses—it’s about owners who refuse to be bound by the same laws that govern everyone else. The U.S. Solicitor General even sided against the company in their Supreme Court appeal, recognizing the frivolous nature of their legal arguments.

Pittsburgh Becomes a News Desert Overnight

The Post-Gazette’s closure coincides with the announced shutdown of Pittsburgh City Paper, which Block Communications also owned. In one fell swoop, Pittsburgh loses both its major daily newspaper and alternative weekly. This creates exactly the kind of news desert that allows corruption to flourish and civic engagement to wither.

The real victims aren’t the Block family—they’ll remain wealthy. The casualties are Pittsburgh residents who lose their watchdog press, local government officials who escape scrutiny, and the hundreds of employees who dedicated their careers to informing their community. The company’s pre-recorded Zoom announcement to staff, with no live representatives available for questions, perfectly captured their cowardice.