Community storytelling Archives - Pittsburgh's Public Source

A woman standing in front of a wall with a flag painted on it.

Community storytelling

My allegiance to the truth

by First-person essay by Kalilah Stein January 16, 2026

How can this be the land of the free when it takes the average American 384 hours of work to cover the cost of a typical hospital stay?

A woman in a teal hat and patterned coat stands on a snowy hill overlooking a river, bridge, and cityscape at dusk.

I couldn’t forget the terrain, the nature, the rivers — but it’s the kindness that kept me in Pittsburgh

by First-person essay by Sarah Samms Velázquez January 9, 2026January 11, 2026

A person lines up a shot with a pool cue on a green billiards table scattered with pool balls in a casual indoor setting.

Community storytelling

Brookline teens put down the phones and get grounded at outreach center

by Emma Folts January 5, 2026

A collage of seven photos surrounds the text “2025 Public Source Year in Visuals” on a white background. The photos depict various people and scenes, including crowds and individuals in costume.

Inside our Newsroom

Public Source’s year in visual journalism 2025

by Public Source December 30, 2025

An older woman wearing sunglasses walks outside on a snowy street with a cane and a harnessed guide dog.

I haven’t seen the world through my eyes since a snowy day in 1969

by First-person essay by Sally Hobart Alexander December 26, 2025December 28, 2025

A person stands by a riverbank with two yellow bridges and a city skyline in the background on an overcast day.

Q&A: Can social workers head off extremism?

by Rich Lord December 24, 2025December 28, 2025

A repeated image of a smiling man in a red sweater and tie, sitting against a plain tan background, appears eight times in a row.

Artificial Intelligence

The crass Fred Rogers of AI deepfakes has some Pittsburghers ‘horrified’

by Meg St-Esprit December 16, 2025December 16, 2025

A collage of four people: a man with headphones and camera outdoors, a woman looking out a window, a person in a blue blazer indoors, and an elderly woman holding papers at a table.

Inside our Newsroom

Sharing yourself with our readers isn’t a ‘now or never’ proposition

by Jamie Wiggan December 10, 2025

Several individuals are being escorted by police officers into a white van at night.

ICE, immigration and local response

Pittsburgh-area ICE arrests through mid-October more than triple last year’s level

by Public Source December 8, 2025

A man wearing glasses and a winter coat looks at a dog outdoors in a snowy area, with tree branches reflected or overlaid on the image.

I survived, learned that what I needed didn’t exist — and set out to create it

by First-person essay by Jeremy Carter December 5, 2025December 7, 2025