Ink in their veins? Distorting archetypes, family newspapers, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Abstract

As newspapers decline across the United States, corporate takeovers of private, family-owned publications have become a familiar symbol of an industry in turmoil. Though arguably beneficial to journalism, the family newspaper as an archetype has frequently been used to perpetuate certain journalistic myths. This includes myths about commercial journalism’s ability to meaningfully prioritize public interest. To understand the ways the family newspaper archetype functions in public discourse, this study examines a moment of upheaval, in which the cultural construct is both upheld and contested. Focusing on a tumultuous period at a metropolitan newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the analysis finds that the archetype’s proximity to an imagined past influences its rhetorical force and appeal. At its best, the archetype entrenches romanticized versions of journalism’s past thereby obstructing visions of alternative futures. With local journalism in crisis and media consolidation ever-rising, attention to ownership myths sheds light on the stories that ultimately sustain a journalism for the few instead of the collective.