Want to know an uncomfortable truth? Publishing great journalism isn’t enough anymore.
Finding ways to connect people to the journalism has become as critical as the stories we tell. For the past two and a half years, our audience team at Pittsburgh’s Public Source has reshaped how we show up for Pittsburgh. We’ve broadened our approach to building audiences and community relationships across platforms. This shift has increased our audience numbers, but more importantly, it’s deepened our impact and strengthened our role as communicators of vital information in our city.
Here are three ways we’re making it happen:
1. Strong photojournalism and visual identity
The backbone for much of our audience work is powerful visuals. In a city full of characters and as visually stunning as Pittsburgh, photojournalism is a primary language for our storytelling. That’s why we’ve invested in visual journalists while many newsrooms have downsized. Photos can spark community conversation in ways text alone sometimes can’t.
Compelling images can stop the scroll on social media, but the lasting value is in documenting our region’s history. Reporter and photographer Quinn Glabicki was there with his camera when we got word that ICE agents hit Ambridge with the “most intense” roundup yet seen in our region.
On the ground with the volunteers tracking ICE across the Pittsburgh region
Staff photojournalist Stephanie Strasburg documented the vibrant neighborhoods of Oakland, Brookline, Carrick and Overbrook as part of our neighborhood zines project. The zines show people how journalism matters to their daily lives, beyond just major crises or breaking news.
The Glimpse: From Oakland to Pittsburgh’s southern neighborhoods, zine photos capture the vibes
You may have also noticed that we changed our look. In our recent brand “glow-up,” we created unified visual standards that give us a consistent, recognizable look across our website, social media and newsletters. We updated our logo (and changed our name), introduced brighter colors and modernized our typefaces and fonts.
Why? We want to evolve with our audience and make Public Source more accessible, inviting and unique in Pittsburgh’s media landscape. The impact? We’re now more recognizable, approachable and positioned to connect with both longtime readers and new audiences.
2. Instagram
Instagram has become our most dynamic platform for reaching new audiences. We’ve grown from 8,000 to more than 16,000 followers in a year by treating Instagram not as a promotional channel to get people to our website, but as a place to tell the whole story in a new way.
Our Instagram strategy is all about catching people mid-scroll with content that makes them stop and think about their neighbors and communities (and maybe even want to help or change something.) This approach influences everything from when we post to how we break down complex local issues through IG carousels and reels.
Instagram has also become a space where we put faces to bylines. Our creative and dedicated audience producer DS Fleegle and our reporters regularly appear in videos to unpack and explain stories. When people see it’s someone from their own community behind the reporting, it helps build trust in our journalism.
3. Partnering with local creators
Local content creators and influencers have built-in trust with parts of the Pittsburgh community that news outlets struggle to reach. Rather than viewing creators as competitors, we are embracing them as partners with a shared mission of keeping our city informed.
At their core, many creators do what journalists have always done: Inform, entertain and connect people.
Our creator partnership approach is intentional and relationship-driven. We seek out people who genuinely care about Pittsburgh and the region, whose values align with our journalism ethics and who can help us reach people through their authentic voices. At their core, many creators do what journalists have always done: inform, entertain and connect people.
Earlier this year, we partnered with local filmmaker and YouTuber Dean Bog in a farewell-to-Pittsburgh video that put a cap on his beloved pandemic-era Pittsburgh neighborhoods series. We reached new audiences and received incredible engagement (comments, shares, likes) on the video. Follow us on Instagram to check out some exciting future collaborations we have in the works.
Audience growth as mission work
Growing our audience isn’t about chasing follower counts. It’s central to our mission. Every new follower and reader is another community member staying informed, another person equipped to participate in civic life and hold power accountable.
Our approach, including our Instagram strategy, creator partnerships and strong visual storytelling, has helped us build a more sustainable model for local journalism. The ways people get their news will keep changing, but our focus will remain on serving the Pittsburgh region through the power of journalism.
Natasha Khan is Pittsburgh Public Source’s creative director. She manages the news outlet’s audience and visual team. Reach her at natasha@publicsource.org.
