In rapid succession we have seen the dissolution of two major Pittsburgh publications, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh City Paper, both owned by Block Communications Inc. (BCI). The announcements came as a surprise for most of us, and it now feels like we have entered the mourning period for these papers.

BCI shut their publications down because of a large loss of money, as well as an inability to accommodate the requests of their employees that had been striking against the Post-Gazette for three years, according to a statement they gave to the media.

“Recent court decisions would require the Post-Gazette to operate under a 2014 labor contract that imposes on the Post-Gazette outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism,” the news release said.

At the Post-Gazette, strikers had just returned from the longest ongoing strike in the country against BCI over unfair contracts regarding health care and other benefits.

Just a couple months ago, strikers were finally able to go back to their jobs, with the belief that they had won. But instead, they are now going to lose their jobs permanently. BCI is blaming their decision to shut down on the costs of the strike, when their workers only wanted fair treatment.

Most of us at The Duke know at least one person who works or has worked for the Post-Gazette and we were extremely saddened by the news on behalf of them and for the journalism as a whole. So many respected and talented people are out of, or soon to be out of a job.

Pittsburghers still have other outlets to look toward, like 90.5 WESA, Public Source and the Tribune-Review, but it’s to be expected that we are going to lose coverage somewhere. It just isn’t possible to get the same amount of news from a lesser amount of sources.

People rely on timely and accurate news to help them go about their days, and we are losing two major components akin to the storytelling of this city.

Now, as we at The Duke graduate and pursue careers in journalism, especially in Pittsburgh, we will be up against journalists with years if not decades in the industry.

On a national level, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributed funding to public broadcasters like NPR and PBS, shut down at the start of the year after losing federal funding. As a result, we are losing coverage on important issues.

It’s not a bright sign to the journalism community at large, but at least we at The Duke will continue reporting the news like it’s our job (because it is).