Tribune-Review deputy managing editor Jason Cato celebrated with Debra Erdley and other Trib employees before his departure to South Carolina. Photo courtesy of Erdley's Facebook

For years, parents have been coming to me with worried looks when their children declare that they want to study journalism. (The horror!) I have seen some of our top journalism students graduate and choose instead to work in public relations (often for better starting money and regular hours).

This growing opportunity gap for journalists was supposed to open up over a generation or so, but it exists now after only a few years, as many journalists have moved on to other careers and fewer young people are going into the business.

You can see examples in the Pittsburgh media market.

The Post-Gazette was fortunate to pick up food writer Hal B. Klein from Pittsburgh Magazine and data editor Mike Wereschagin from The Caucus in Harrisburg. Technical.ly is looking for a new Pittsburgh writer after the previous one left. PublicSource, which has had several high-profile openings including a CEO, still has a posting for a K-12 education reporter. The Northside Chronicle needs a new managing editor with Ashlee Green leaving to work on an MFA in creative writing at George Mason University.

Did I mention that Temple Sinai needs a production assistant to stream services on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings? If interested, reach out to Executive Director Drew Barkley (drew@templesinaipgh.org).

To meet the demand for journalists, the Pittsburgh Media Partnership (a coalition of 18 local news outlets, including NEXTPittsburgh — which is currently hiring freelance News Reporters) is hosting its second annual summer internship program with support from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.

We have 13 young journalists from five universities working in 11 newsrooms. So far, they have generated more than 65 written stories, audio files and photographs — mostly covering topics that otherwise would have been ignored because of dwindling newsrooms.

When they graduate, we’ll have another crop of young journalists ready to fill future openings. That is unless they decide to go into some other field.

Friends and colleagues celebrated Guy Junker’s 44 years in journalism by posting photos of him on social media. Here, he stands next to former Pirate Mike Easler, who played in Pittsburgh from 1977 to 1983. Photo courtesy of @chrisshovlin via Twitter.
Friends and colleagues celebrated Guy Junker’s 44 years in journalism by posting photos of him on social media. Here, he stands next to former Pirate Mike Easler, who played in Pittsburgh from 1977 to 1983. Photo courtesy of @chrisshovlin via Twitter.

Comings & Goings

  • Rich Pierce has joined WPXI-TV after spending nine years at WTOV, the NBC affiliate in Steubenville. A Hopewell native, Pierce posted on Twitter that “It’s been a dream of mine since I was a teenager to work in my home television market.”
  • Sports anchor and reporter Guy Junker retired from WTAE-TV after 44 years in journalism, telling the Post-Gazette that his career was a dream: “It’s truly been special. … I grew up a fan of all these teams.”
  • WTAE-TV has hired weekend sports anchor Emily Giangreco away from a station in Austin, Texas. A Washington, D.C., native, she studied journalism at West Virginia University.
  • Tribune-Review Deputy Managing Editor Jason Cato has returned home to South Carolina to serve as managing editor of the Charleston Post and Courier.
  • After Trib Total Media purchased Shady Ave magazine in May, the company named John Allison to serve as its editor.
  • Jackie Palochko has joined the Post-Gazette as deputy news and investigations editor after working at The Morning Call in Allentown. “It’s an amazing opportunity that I’m very excited for,” she wrote on Twitter.
  • Hallie Lauer, a breaking news reporter at the PG, has moved over as its city hall reporter.
  • Lacretia Wimbley, a PG reporter who also served as president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, stepped down to take a new job at Colorado Public Radio in Denver. She told the New Pittsburgh Courier that she never had been to the Rockies but couldn’t pass up this opportunity.
  • PublicSource has picked up several new hires including CEO Eric Zack; photographer Stephanie Strasburg, who moved over from the PG; Quinn Glabicki to cover climate and environment via Report for America; and Amelia Winger to cover health and mental health.
  • PublicSource also named Ted Anthony, the director of new storytelling and newsroom innovation for the AP, to serve as interim board president. The previous president Jim Crutchfield had stayed on past the end of his term to oversee the hiring of a CEO.
  • PublicSource has promoted Halle Stockton to editor-in-chief and Rich Lord as managing editor. Ryan Loew, who had worked as a visual content producer, has returned home to serve as digital news editor for Ideastream Public Media in Cleveland.
  • Jamie Wiggan has joined City Paper as news editor after editing Gazette 2.0, the community newspaper in Stowe and McKees Rocks.
  • Falicia Woody has joined KDKA as a meteorologist after working in Youngstown, Ohio. She wrote on Twitter: “Dreams do come true when you put in the hard work! I’m so excited to join such an amazing & legendary team.”

Andrew Conte, founding director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University, writes the On Media column at NEXTpittsburgh with support from The Heinz Endowments. You can find all of his columns here, and you may email him.

Andrew Conte, founding director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University, writes the On Media column at NEXTpittsburgh with support from The Heinz Endowments.