The Baltimore Banner’s Nonprofit Model Just Rescued a Second Major Newspaper. Is This the Future of Local Journalism?

Pittsburgh is the most recent city to fall squarely in the middle of the peculiar feeling that is currently pervading newsrooms across America, somewhere between reluctant hope and dread. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a newspaper older than the United States, was getting ready to publish its last edition on May 3 a few weeks ago. Then there was a call. The nonprofit organization that runs The Baltimore Banner, the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, had consented to take over. Suddenly, a 240-year-old newspaper that had withstood the Civil War, two World Wars, and the demise of American steel was given a new chapter to write.

It’s not just that the Post-Gazette was spared. It’s about who saved it and how that pattern is beginning to resemble a model rather than a one-off. Founded just a few years ago by hotel tycoon Stewart Bainum Jr. following his unsuccessful bid for the Baltimore Sun, The Banner has subtly grown to become one of the most watched experiments in American journalism. It operates with the patience of a foundation rather than the impatience of a hedge fund, prioritizes digital operations, and relies heavily on philanthropy. Walking through the Banner’s open-plan newsroom in Baltimore, with its glass walls and exposed brick, which are typical indicators of a media start-up, gives the impression that someone is finally attempting to create something rather than sell it.

The Post-Gazette’s longtime owner, Block Communications, claimed to have lost over $350 million on the publication over the course of 20 years. It had given up by January. Many in Pittsburgh feared a sale to one of those infamous hedge funds that dismantle newsrooms under the guise of efficiency. Those who had spent years disparaging the family were shocked to learn that Block had instead given it to a nonprofit, even discreetly doing the same earlier with the alt-weekly Pittsburgh City Paper. Perhaps there was some sort of atonement going on. They might have simply been unable to find another buyer. Both may be accurate.

It’s difficult to ignore the larger pattern as you watch this develop. More than 200 counties nationwide are currently regarded as news deserts. Similar nonprofit conversions have been considered by newspapers in Salt Lake City, Houston, and Chicago. Block could have just left, according to Andrew Conte, director of Pittsburgh’s Center for Media Innovation, and many owners have. A long runway, foundation grants, tax-deductible donations, and a structure that releases editors from the pressure of quarterly earnings are all features of the Banner model.

It’s still unclear if this will truly save local journalism. Owning a nonprofit is not magical. It still requires advertisers, subscribers, and most importantly, interested readers. In Pittsburgh, Halle Stockton, the owner of the online publication Public Source, put it succinctly: sometimes a community needs to almost lose something before it realizes what it had. On Thursdays and Sundays, the print Post-Gazette will continue to arrive; by morning, the same yellowing racks outside restaurants and barbershops will still be full. That’s sufficient for now. The next challenge is to demonstrate that this can be expanded beyond two cities.