Hits and Misses
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the largest newspaper in this region, has been embroiled in several high-profile controversies in recent years, with the most recent being its treatment of two African American staffers who were covering protests following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. This has led Giant Eagle to announce that it will no longer carry the newspaper in its stores. Laura Shapira Karet, Giant Eagle’s president and CEO, said in a social media post that the stores would not stock the Post-Gazette, “until the publication demonstrates equal commitment to all those in the communities it serves.” It should be stated that Giant Eagle’s action is not censorship – the company’s leaders have the right to stock or not stock any product they wish, and the Post-Gazette is still available through subscription, online and at other retailers. That being said, we dislike anything that diminishes the availability of newspapers. Still, Giant Eagle’s action should send a powerful message to the owners and top editors of the Post-Gazette that a course correction is badly needed.
Pennsylvania has a longstanding litter problem that costs money and makes the commonwealth look unsightly. Since the start of coronavirus lockdowns in March, the type of litter blemishing the landscape has changed, according to a story that appeared in the Observer-Reporter this week. It now includes personal protective equipment like disposable gloves that people use when they go grocery shopping or engage in other day-to-day activities. Some are choosing to merely toss them out car windows or throw them on the ground in parking lots. This means someone else has to clean it up, putting their health at risk. If the personal protective equipment gets into drainage systems and waterways, it could pose a threat to wildlife. Here, the solution is simple: Don’t be a slob and throw your used personal protective equipment in the nearest trash can.
In 2015, NASCAR started asking fans to not bring Confederate battle flags to its races, but they still have cropped up like unwanted weeds. This week, NASCAR put its foot down, going from asking to mandating that the flag not be flown by anyone attending its races. Ryan McGee, a senior writer for ESPN, opined that he would not miss the flag “for one single second,” and added the “Stars and Bars” belongs in a museum, not at a racetrack: “Even if there had ever been a stitch of honor left in that flag after the Civil War was over, that was wrung out when hate groups chose the stars and bars as their go-to banner, under which they set fire to crosses, lynched black Americans, and held aloft as they stood at the doors of desegregated schools and screamed at innocent children, schoolbooks in hand, who did nothing more than be born.” NASCAR should be applauded for trying to make everyone who attends its events feel welcome.
There was no small amount of concern that a protest against racism and police brutality in downtown Washington last Saturday would become violent, but it was anything but. The peaceful, harmonious nature of the protest was captured in a striking photograph by Mark Marietta that appeared on the front page of the Observer-Reporter on Monday. It showed protest leader Ahmad Morris with Bob Wilson, the police chief of the city, both laughing and sharing a celebratory moment. After the cascade of unsettling news in recent weeks, it was an image that made us feel hopeful about the state of the region and the nation.