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Award-winning journalists whose reporting transformed American institutions are telling their stories in Pittsburgh during a first-of-its kind festival of local news this fall.
Walter “Robby” Robinson led The Boston Globe Spotlight Team that unmasked years of sexual abuse within the Catholic Diocese in Boston – and inspired the Academy Award-winning film, “Spotlight.” The reporting also won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Michael Keaton played Robinson, depicted as a meticulous and relentless newsman. In real life, Robinson, who is editor-at-large at the Globe, has reported for the newspaper from 33 countries and 48 states and covered four presidential elections. He will speak Sept. 27 at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Downtown as part of Newsapalooza.
Newsapalooza, kicking of Sept. 14, then running Sept. 26-28 brings together national and local journalists, community, and corporate leaders to engage the public and celebrate local news as essential to a strong democracy.
Marty Baron - Robinson's editor at The Globe - will speak separately on Sept. 14 at Pittsburgh Playhouse, in an event presented by the International Free Expression Project and the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. After he left The Globe, Baron became executive editor at The Washington Post, retiring in 2021.
Baron's new book, “Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post,” chronicles his relationship with Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump. Under his leadership, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and Miami Herald won 18 Pulitzer Prizes.
In an interview with CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa after his book was released, Baron said, journalists “should talk to everybody.”
"We should listen to all people. We should be generous in listening to them, hear everything they have to say. We should look at all the evidence and do a rigorous job of reporting and then tell people what we've actually learned.
“Fairness also means being fair to the public and that means telling them what we have found to be true.”
Newsapalooza is a festival to engage the public, students, and industry professionals in local news. It will feature discussions with journalists and leaders working in and around news, interactive storytelling, food trucks, open houses at newsrooms across Southwestern Pennsylvania, and more.
The event also will serve as a kickoff to Next Generation Newsroom, a teaching newsroom launching at Point Park supported by philanthropic and corporate funding.
Most events will take place on Sept. 27 at Point Park featuring live conversations about news issues with, pictured, top image from left to right, top, Baron; Marita Garrett, founding president and CEO of Civically, Inc.; Salena Zito, national political reporter and author; bottom, left to right, Annafi Wahed, founder, The Flip Side, a newsletter that curates columns from liberal and conservative viewpoints; Robinson; and Lara Putnam, an expert on grassroots politics and history professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Also speaking will be Dana Coester, co-founder of 100 Days in Appalachia; Letrell Crittenden, director of inclusion and audience engagement, American Press Institute; Elise Silva, researcher for Pitt’s Institute of Cyber Law, Policy, and Security, and Justin Merriman, Pittsburgh-based photojournalist and filmmaker whose work has taken him from covering the War on Terror to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
Also in the works: A story pitch session before a celebrity editorial board including Sally Wiggin, former WTAE-TV news anchor and Rick Sebak, emceed by John and Rachael of YaJagoff Media. The audience will pick the winners - who will be awarded funding to report their stories.
Tickets for Newsapalooza are available with an early bird discount if purchased by Sept. 1 through the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
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