Pittsburgh Tribune - Review The Pittsburgh Tribune - Review , also known as " the Trib , " is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , in the United States . Founded in 1889 as the Greensburg Tribune - Review , the paper circulated only in suburban Westmoreland County until 1992 when it began serving all of the Pittsburgh area after a strike at the two Pittsburgh dailies , " Pittsburgh Post - Gazette " and " Pittsburgh Press " , deprived the city of a newspaper for several months . The Tribune - Review Publishing Company is owned by Richard Mellon Scaife , an heir to the Mellon banking , oil , and aluminum fortune . Scaife is a major funder of conservative organizations , including the Arkansas Project ; accordingly , the " Tribune - Review " has long maintained a staunchly conservative editorial stance . The company publishes seven daily papers , one afternoon paper , 10 weekly papers , the " Pittsburgh Pennysaver " , five magazines , and a plethora of Websites . The " Trib " has a conservative editorial page , contrasting with its competitor , the " Pittsburgh Post - Gazette " , which has more of a liberal viewpoint . History . Origin . The paper first began reporting under the name " Greensburg Daily Tribune " in 1889 . In 1902 , the " Greensburg Morning Review " also was published before combining the editions in 1955 . Scaife bought the " Greensburg Tribune - Review " in 1970 . Scaife was a decade early in trying to unarm the " Post - Gazette " . In 1981 – 82 , he started a short - lived eastern suburbs paper , " The Daily - Sunday Tribune " . Kent State and the Pulitzer . The Tribune - Review owns several " satellite " papers that insert or surround the regional publication with neighborhood specific stories . The " Valley Daily News and Daily Dispatch " , of Pittsburgh suburbs Tarentum and New Kensington , Pennsylvania is one such satellite . Local journalism student John Filo worked for the publication while attending nearby Kent State University and served as the Valley Daily News ' correspondent of the Kent State shootings . His photography that day has ascended to iconic status and won the paper its only Pulitzer Prize . 1990s expansion , and " North Hills News Record " . During a newspaper strike that temporarily ceased the " Post - Gazette " and ultimately closed the " Pittsburgh Press " , Scaife launched the " Pittsburgh Tribune - Review " , an edition of the Greensburg - based " Tribune - Review " covering Allegheny County and Pittsburgh . In 1997 , Scaife added to his small collection of newspapers by purchasing " The Daily Courier " of Connellsville , the " Leader Times " of Kittanning and " The Valley Independent " of Monessen from Thomson Newspapers . In late 1997 , Scaife ' s NewsWorks facility opened in the North Hills . In December 1997 , the Tribune - Review company purchased the " North Hills News Record " , even though four months earlier , then - Trib president Ed Harrell told the " Pittsburgh Business Times " that the company was not interested in the " News Record " . Nine months after purchasing the " North Hills News Record " from Gannett Company , Tribune - Review Publishing Co . announced the paper would be merged with the " Pittsburgh Trib " . " The News Record " was most successful during the newspaper strike of the early 1990s . At its demise , the " North Hills News Record " had a daily circulation of more than 16 , 000 , nearly 1 , 000 less than its circulation before the Trib bought it . In early 2000 , the Trib announced the " News Record " name would retire after more than two years of a combined " Tribune - Review / North Hills News Record " banner . North Hills coverage would be wrapped into the Trib ' s neighborhoods section . 2000s mergers and consolidations . In 2000 , the Trib announced it would stop producing the twice - weekly Irwin - based paper , " Standard Observer " . Citing a " sagging economy , " the Trib laid off more than four percent of its workforce in 2003 , including freelance writer s . More shakeups continued in 2005 as circulation numbers dropped and a top official left . An online message board featured back and forth fights between Pittsburgh and Greensburg employees . Edward Harrell , then - president of the Tribune Review Publishing Company , announced in January 2005 that most of the regional editions of the paper would have their newsroom , management and circulation departments merged and staff reductions would follow . The merged papers include the " Tribune - Review " of Greensburg , the " Valley News Dispatch " of Tarentum , " The Leader - Times " of Kittanning , " The Daily Courier " of Connellsville and the " Blairsville Dispatch " . " The Valley Independent " , the only paper with a unionized newsroom and contract , was not affected . The company incorporated as Trib Total Media in the summer of 2005 , and purchased Gateway Newspapers , a community publication group servicing approximately 22 communities , at the time , in and around Pittsburgh ' s Allegheny County . Two managers were immediately laid off . The exact number of proposed redundancies was not announced . In September 2005 , Harrell announced his retirement as president of Tribune - Review Publishing Company , effective December 31 , 2005 . He had served as president since 1989 . Several staff writers were laid off in December 2005 as two of Gateway ' s newspapers were discontinued . In May 2008 , the " Post - Gazette " and the Trib reached a deal for one company to deliver both papers . The Post - Gazette would begin delivering the Trib to most of the area with some exceptions . Terms of the deal were not disclosed . On June 20 , 2008 , Trib Total Media publicly announced it was closing seven weekly newspapers in the Gateway Newspapers chain . The papers affected include : " Bridgeville Area News " , " North Journal " , " McKnight Journal " , " Woodland Progress " , " Penn Hills Progress " , " Coraopolis - Moon Record " and the " Advance Leader " . Many of those papers were several decades old . The company also announced major changes to the remaining Gateway publications including a revamp of the Pennysaver in the communities that have Gateway newspapers . Several published reports say the remaining community newspapers would expand coverage to include areas no longer serviced by Gateway publications . The communities served by those titles will now be served by other Gateway newspapers . Alone among major dailies in Pennsylvania ' s two largest cities Pittsburgh and Philadelphia , the " Tribune " — calling incumbent U . S . Senator Arlen Specter " the commonwealth ' s longest - running joke " — endorsed challenger Joe Sestak in the 2010 Democratic primary ; in the same editorial , the " Trib " urged Republicans in their primary to do " what they should have done in 2004 — make Pat Toomey Pennsylvania ' s Republican nominee to the U . S . Senate . " Investigations , national attention . Carl Prine , an investigative reporter for the newspaper , conducted a probe with the CBS news magazine " 60 Minutes " that highlighted the lack of security at the nation ' s most dangerous chemical plants following the September 11 , 2001 attacks . The reporters , and a CBS camera operator , were charged with trespassing at a Neville Island plant during their investigation . They were later acquitted when the judge accepted that the story had been in the public interest . In 2007 , Prine ' s further investigation into the subject was featured in the PBS documentary series , in a two - part episode entitled " Think Like A Terrorist . " One Tribune - Review flap went national when Colin McNickle , editor of the newspaper ' s editorial page , attended a July 26 , 2004 speech at the Massachusetts State House given by Teresa Heinz Kerry , who had been the subject of two negative articles in the Tribune - Review ' s opinion pages . After the speech , there was a dispute between McNickle and Heinz Kerry over her use of the term " un - American activity . " Circulation . Individual circulation numbers for each daily newspaper the Trib owns are not available since company policy mandates the seven dailies combine numbers . Even still , Trib circulation continues to follow the national trend of declining numbers . In 2007 , the Trib reported significant circulation gains only because of combined numbers . A year earlier , the company saw a loss in circulation numbers at various papers . In 2005 , a report by the Audit Bureau of Circulations determined that the Post - Gazette had lost 5 , 000 subscribers on its Monday - to - Friday deliveries , while the Greensburg Tribune - Review and Pittsburgh Tribune - Review lost 8 , 000 subscribers Monday to Friday , with deeper losses on Sundays . As part of the " Trib Total Media " conglomerate , the Tribune - Review has partnerships with WPXI and Clear Channel ' s Pittsburgh area properties , in particular classic rock station WDVE and talk radio station WPGB .