A new investigative newsroom focusing on original accountability reporting launches this month at Trib Total Media, the latest step in its expansion in the Pittsburgh market, Trib officials announced Thursday.
The newsroom, which will be based in Pittsburgh’s North Shore, will be directed by award-winning journalist Andrew Conte, who is leaving Point Park University after leading its Center for Media Innovation over the last decade.
The project, named Newsworks Lab, is anchored by a $1.25 million seed investment from Trib Total Media, whose goal is to produce in-depth, high-impact reporting on emerging issues of importance to Western Pennsylvania communities.
“We see this as an investment in the public good,” said Jennifer Bertetto, President and CEO of Trib Total Media. “Quality journalism holds institutions accountable and connects communities, and Newsworks Lab is designed to strengthen both.”
Bertetto said the investment gives Newsworks Lab the foundation to experiment, collaborate and produce impactful reporting while boosting the long-term vitality of local media. Newsworks Lab is incorporated as a public benefit company, she said, structured to serve the public interest as a core part of its purpose.
“We’re helping build a model that can sustain and strengthen local journalism for years to come,” Bertetto said.
Conte, a former investigative reporter at the Trib who won national awards for his work, will recruit and lead a team of investigative reporters and data reporters. He said innovation is key to the future of local journalism.
To that end, Newsworks Lab intends to partner with regional colleges, universities and other news outlets to share resources and produce content, both for print and digital platforms.
“If local journalism is going to thrive, it has to evolve,” said Conte, 54, of Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Heights neighborhood. “Innovation gives us the tools to tell deeper stories, reach wider audiences, and rebuild trust in the communities we serve. That’s the future we’re building at Newsworks Lab.”
The newsroom’s name is a nod to the print history of the Trib and its flagship newspaper — the Tribune-Review — which was previously printed at the Newsworks printing plant in Marshall Township, near Cranberry.
TribLive Executive Editor Luis Fabregas said the new venture will expand the depth and breadth of the work produced by the TribLive newsroom, one of the largest in the state. In some cases, Newsworks Lab journalists will team up with TribLive staff to produce original work, he said.
Bertetto said Conte is well-suited to take on the important role of managing Newsworks Lab. While at the Trib from 2001 to 2016, Conte won some of the field’s top honors, including the William Brewster Styles Award from the Scripps Howard Foundation. He also received awards from the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Journalists and the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania.
At Point Park, he trained student journalists at the Center for Media Innovation, which has emerged as an incubator of aspiring media professionals. The center is widely viewed as an advocate for journalism, including emerging and professional journalists.
For Conte, returning to the Trib is “like coming back home.”
“Coming back feels like a full-circle moment,” he said. “But it’s also a chance to build something new for the community that shaped me.”