I love newspapers.
Always have, always will. As long as there are newspapers around to love, anyway.
They enlighten and entertain. They root out corruption in politics and business, take us to conflict zones in far corners of the globe and, yeah, make sure we know who’s working the left point on the local NHL club’s No. 2 power-play unit, too.
That is why working for the two major dailies in our city’s recent history, The Pittsburgh Press and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, for the past 39-plus years has been one of the great honors of my professional life.
But the information industry has been evolving during the past few decades, and most newspapers have not adapted to the changing ecosystem. There are fewer sections in each day’s paper, and fewer pages in each of those. Less space for stories and photos. Plummeting advertising revenues and declining readership. The numbers are more depressing than any since the Penguins’ 16-58-6 record in 1983-84.
But the desire for information hasn’t abated, as evidenced by the way DKPittsburghSports.com and similar sites have been embraced by readers. People come here because they want to be informed and entertained, and I couldn’t be more enthused about joining the team charged with doing that.
It’s not just that I’m being reunited with two of the finest pros, Dejan Kovacevic and Jim Barger, with whom I’ve had the pleasure to work. (I’m guessing you know a bit about Dejan. And Jim, who signed on recently as managing editor, was a colleague at The Press and Post-Gazette.) Jim was always a calming, steady, knowledgeable influence on our staff and, while I was fortunate enough to share the hockey beat with quite a few quality, committed journalists over the years, there was none in whom I had more faith and trust than Dejan. And I never had reason to second-guess that belief.
But make no mistake: This is not about getting together to swap old stories and relive the good times. (Or the times when one’s laptop melted down three minutes before a hard deadline, for that matter.) It’s about producing quality work, and the people on this staff have proven on a daily basis that they can do it.
Not only the vets like John Perrotto and Dale Lolley, who provide the most current information but also bring a perspective made possible only by experience. (Go ahead, just try to sneak a Tommie Sisk or Greg Hawthorne reference past one of them.) I’m still getting to know most of the staff, but cannot help but be impressed by the work ethic and knowledge reflected in Taylor Haase’s writing, especially as it pertains to minor-league players and other prospects in the Penguins’ organizational pipeline. And Matt Sunday's ability to tell stories in photos and words is outstanding.
This note wasn’t intended to be a rundown of the site’s roster of reporters and contributors; if you want that, please click on “Our Staff” near the top of the page. Rather, the point is to make it clear how impressed I am by the people with whom I will be working, and how honored I am to have an opportunity to join this team.
And how grateful I am that you are accompanying us on this journey into a most promising future.
