Newsapalooza 2026: A Festival of Local News

As always, at this two-day festival celebrating the future of local journalism, you’ll learn from and connect with the next generation of journalists, national and local industry experts, creators, and community members and leaders.

And this year, we’ll celebrate a decade of innovation, as the Center for Media Innovation turns 10 years old!

Here’s what you can expect:

Gather with us at the Center for Media Innovation to:

• Showcase the next generation of journalists with the Pittsburgh Pitch
• Recognize outstanding local journalism
• Celebrate the Center for Media Innovation’s 10-year anniversary
• Enjoy light bites, drinks, and participate in activities
• Meet and mingle with people who love local journalism, too!

When: 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12

Where: The Center for Media Innovation
West Penn Building, 14 Wood St., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222

Day 1 registration includes hors d’oeuvres and one drink ticket.

The day begins with a keynote conversation featuring Heidi Przybyla, an award-winning investigative journalist, president and founder of Get Real News, and former correspondent for NBC News, POLITICO and USA TODAY. Przybyla will be joined by Lexi Belculfine, assistant vice president and managing director of the Center for Media Innovation, for a discussion about the evolving media landscape and the future of journalism.

Then, we’ll host conversations and opportunities to connect with fellow journalism and community leaders on topics including:

Who Pays for News: Journalism costs money, and the old business model isn’t coming back. Nonprofit newsrooms are leaning on donors and foundations. Legacy papers are rethinking print, subscriptions, and advertising. Independent outlets are piecing together revenue. This panel brings together leaders from different corners of the industry to talk frankly about how they are working to sustain local news.

• Jess deRivera, associate director of programs, LION Publishers
• Cindy Lash, vice president of news, 90.5 WESA
• Tammy Schuey, publisher/general manager, Butler Eagle

Towns With No News: What happens to a community when no one is covering it anymore? In towns across Southwestern Pennsylvania, local papers are shrinking or closing. This panel will talk about what a news desert looks like from the inside — and what it takes to bring reliable local information back to a place that has lost it.

• Rob Amen, managing editor, TribLive /Tribune Review
• Bri Erskine, mayor, Bellevue Borough
• Sadie Harvey, managing editor, Centre Documenters

The New Front Page: Local news is more essential than ever, but it might not look the same as it used to, arriving on the doorstep in the morning or airing at 6 o’clock. Across Southwestern Pennsylvania, people are creating new outlets and reimagining existing publications to better serve their communities. This panel brings together some of those builders to talk about how they reach audiences, earn trust, and stay in business.

• Jeff Freedman, founder, QBurgh
• Teresa Lindeman, managing editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Chris Maury, president, Pittsburgh City Paper, and founding executive director, informup

When: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13 (Registration begins at 8 a.m.)

Where: Point Park University’s University Center/Library
2nd floor, George Rowland White Theater
414 Wood St., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222
(Please note, this is NOT the George Rowland White Performance Center)

Day 2 registration includes access to all panels as well as lunch and a tour of the , 223 Fourth Ave.

In many parts of the country, local news is disappearing. In Southwestern Pennsylvania, local news leaders are collaborating.

The Center for Media Innovation’s Pittsburgh Media Partnership offers the region a collaborative local news ecosystem and has created a space where more than 40 newsrooms across 10 counties are still showing up to keep the public informed.

Working together, we’re telling the stories of our communities: what decisions are being made, who is making them, where public money is going, what problems are being ignored, what neighbors are building — and how community members can be heard by covering school boards, borough councils, neighborhoods, courts, culture, business, elections and public life.

Newsapalooza celebrates the strength of journalism in Southwestern Pennsylvania, one of America’s local news capitals, and beyond, inviting everyone into the celebration of local news living here.