Post-Gazette Appoints Writer of ‘Reason as Racism’ Editorial as Its Newsroom Leader

PITTSBURGH — Last year, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette chose Martin Luther King’s Birthday as the publication date for an editorial headlined “Reason as Racism.” On Monday, a little more than a year after that piece drew national criticism, The Post-Gazette named its editorial page director, Keith C. Burris, as its newsroom leader.

Mr. Burris was appointed executive editor at a stormy time at the Pittsburgh daily.

Relations between its workers’ union, the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, and the paper’s owner, Block Communications, have been tense. Things came to a head on the night of Feb. 9, when John R. Block, the publisher, subjected staff members to a tirade in the newsroom. According to several journalists who were present, Mr. Block threatened employees’ jobs as his young daughter, whom he had brought with him, sobbed and begged him to stop. Block Communications has disputed the journalists’ version of events.

Mr. Burris, who wrote the “Reason as Racism” editorial, according to Mr. Block, was in charge of the editorial pages at The Post-Gazette and its sibling paper, The Toledo Blade in Ohio, at the time of his appointment. He will continue to serve as editorial page editor of both publications even as he assumes the new role.

In an email to employees on Monday, Mr. Burris asked for the support of the staff.

“I ask you to recognize my pledge and I beseech you to work with me — WORK WITH ME — to uphold the hallowed legacy of The Post-Gazette and to march forward into a future worthy of its past,” he wrote. “It will not be easy. These are perilous times for journalism, in so many ways, and we owe the Block family a tremendous debt for sustaining us and believing in our mission.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/business/media/pittsburgh-post-gazette-executive-editor.html?partner=rss&emc=rss