For 105 years the Pittsburgh Courier, then later named the New Pittsburgh Courier, has been documenting Black history and bringing local and national news to its readers through its print editions. But as the times have changed, so has the historical newspaper.
Although still in print weekly, readers and followers can also access the news 24 hours a day, seven days a week via the Courier’s website, its Smartphone application, its YouTube page and four social media sites-Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and LinkedIn—making it a multimedia enterprise.
“The website has greatly expanded our reach, both in Pittsburgh and nationally. And when you add in Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, LinkedIn and YouTube, those all compliment the website and the paper, which is still our primary product,” said Stephan Broadus, New Pittsburgh Courier web editor and assistant to the publisher. “It allows us to be daily versus weekly. And that opens a lot of opportunities we did not have in the past.
“The news doesn’t stop for anyone, news happens 24 hours a day, seven days a week…The news cycle is a daily think, where it used to be you had a little time, now you don’t. If you’re going to be competitive you’ve got to be on top of the news everyday.”
Since the Courier commenced in 1910, it has been covering campaigns for equality, exposing injustices and telling the story of Black America. In addition to its print subscribers, the Courier reaches more than 10,000 subscribers through it daily web-based edition, the Digital Daily, which began in 2012 and its mobile app that launched in 2013. Since the launch of its website in 2002, the Courier continues to grow its digital traffic; it see more than 300,000 viewers a month.
Roz Edward, national content director for Real Times Media LLC, the Courier’s parent company, said it’s important for newspapers to be accessible through various digital platforms because “that’s the way the industry is going.”
According to reports Edward has viewed, by 2016 90 percent of people will be getting their news through their mobile phones and social media sites.
“The Courier has always been a leader in bringing the news and implementing new strategies to do that. We were one of the first Black newspapers to have a full service website,” said Broadus. “We’ve been the trend setter.”
Like Broadus, Edwards said since entering her position two years ago, the Courier has always had a steady traffic.
According to statistics from Google Analytics, which were provided by Edward, approximately 2.5 million individuals visited the Courier’s website in 2014 and there were 5 million pageviews.
In 2013, the New Pittsburgh Courier’s website was nationally recognized as the top Black website when it was presented the award for Digital Excellence by the National Newspaper Publishers Association at its annual Merit Awards.
While the web affords the opportunity for newspapers to reach a broader audience, Broadus said it also allows them “to archive and document history so it will be available for all time.”
With its 105 years of documented Black history, readers can access the Courier archives via its website. All the Courier’s editions that were available on microfilm, dating back to 1910, have been digitized by ProQuest and are at its readers’ fingertips.
As for the Courier’s digital future, Broadus said it includes doing more with the YouTube site as well as continuing to grow into a web-based enterprise and increasing its revenue, which entails increasing its’ number of impressions and online readership.
“We’re able to offer advertisers many ways to reach an important consumer market,” Broadus said. “The print edition is still our primary source of revenue, but as with all other media, we have to generate revenue from online to survive moving ahead.”
(For more information on the website, visit https://www.newpittsburghcourier.com.)
