Point Park’s Teaching Newsroom Granted $550,000 from Heinz Endowments to Support Critical Media Ecosystems Tuesday, July 22, 2025
(L-R) Kalliyan Winder, Next Generation Newsroom contributor, Abigail Hakas, NGN reporter, and Eliyahu Gasson and Amaya Lobato Rivas, interns. Photo | Tanner Knapp.
“We are both grateful for and energized by the incredible support we have received in the region for this important work. The Heinz Endowment’s most recent gift will help us expand our efforts to support media outlets and train the next generation of journalists.”
The Heinz Endowments has awarded $550,000 to the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University for the Pittsburgh Media Partnership’s teaching newsroom. Including this gift, the CMI has raised $1.9 million since January 2024 to support local news across 10 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania.
“We are both grateful for and energized by the incredible support we have received in the region for this important work,” said Andrew Conte, Ph.D., assistant vice president and managing director of the CMI. “The Heinz Endowment’s most recent gift will help us expand our efforts to support media outlets and train the next generation of journalists.”
Formerly known as the Next Generation Newsroom, the Pittsburgh Media Partnership’s teaching newsroom places news reporters and interns on under-covered beats focusing on government accountability and enterprise reporting, establishes career pathways for student journalists and recent graduates from diverse backgrounds and hosts civic engagement events like Newsapalooza to connect communities and journalism.
“The regional media landscape has changed dramatically since we started in 2016, with many local media outlets shrinking or in some cases disappearing, and others just starting,” Conte said. “The surviving media ecosystem, made up of large legacy news outlets and smaller regional or niche publications, serves the people of southwestern Pennsylvania. We are working to sustain and regrow these networks.”
With the teaching newsroom now firmly established, the CMI is sharpening its mission to strengthen local media ecosystems by focusing on initiatives that have made the CMI a leader in supporting the vitality of local journalism. The Center is refocusing on three service areas:
- Pittsburgh Media Partnership, a collaboration among 33 news outlets serving 10 counties of southwestern Pennsylvania; the Partnership includes the teaching newsroom and the Downtown Media Hub, a shared newsroom space at 223 Fourth Ave.
- Press Forward Southwestern Pennsylvania, an effort to support local news initiatives supported by five local foundations: The Benter Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, Henry L. Hillman Foundation, The Pittsburgh Foundation and Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh.
- CMI Production Hub, which provides fee-for-service video and audio support to external and internal clients.
The teaching newsroom, which launched in October, offers its stories first to Pittsburgh Media Partnership members but its work has been republished beyond — in news outlets throughout Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas and in national industry publications.
“The CMI’s reach goes beyond our campus community. Our 33 news partners have a combined reach of about 10 million people, and it doesn’t even stop there,” said Kimberly Palmiero, assistant director of the CMI.
As an example, the newsroom’s story about a change that would have made it easier for problem gamblers to re-enter casinos was picked up by nine news outlets and one trade publication.
The newsroom’s reporting focuses on high-impact issues not found through news releases and news conferences, and which are not covered by other media outlets. It places an emphasis on information that can empower residents to better understand their communities.
Palmiero, who also serves as director of the Pittsburgh Media Partnership, said that by “enhancing partnerships and fine-tuning our resources, we will continue to grow our impact on regional news — and beyond.”
“Our work and the work of our strategic partners has been supported generously by the University, the campus community and our funders,” Conte said. “Through that continued support, we will better meet the challenges ahead to ensure robust local media, fair and accurate reporting, and an exceptional training ground for the next generation of journalists.”