Editor’s note: TribLive is profiling members of the Pittsburgh Media Partnership in this weekly series to spotlight the robust media landscape in Western Pennsylvania.
The Beaver County Times strives to cover more than just its hometown area with a skeleton crew.
Less than a handful of people, working remotely, are continuing a news tradition that spans about 219 years.
The paper was bought in 2017 by GateHouse/Gannett (now named the USA Today Co.).
“We were down to five reporters in the newsroom when I took over in 2021, but right now I only have one, sports writer Ethan Morrison,” said editor Patrick O’Shea. “We hope to resume staffing later this year.”
O’Shea said the resolve to provide high-quality journalism is strong.
“I would say The Times has always been focused on the issues that are most important to Southwestern Pennsylvania and dedicated to giving voices to those who are not always heard in the region.”
O’Shea answered questions posed by TribLive.
Location: Our building was in Bridgewater until about 2018, and then our office moved to Hopewell Township before closing in the summer of 2024. Since then, we have been totally remote.
Newsroom size: 2
Communities served: All of Beaver County, the western suburbs of Allegheny County and southern Lawrence County
Established in: Formed in 1962 through the combination of a few previous papers, its origins date back to The Minerva in 1807, a four-page weekly in Beaver.
Known for: Coverage of local high school sports, the Shell Chemicals plant in Potter Township, the legacy of local steel mills and the fatal USAir Flight 427 crash.
Who is your core audience, and how do you stay connected to them? Our core audience is in Beaver County, but we do have a lot of former residents who follow us online to see what is going on back in their hometowns. Because the county is such a mixture of urban, suburban and rural, we have a wide range of topics we follow and a diverse group of followers.
What makes your coverage different from others in Pennsylvania? The Times has always punched above its weight and never backed down from any complicated or controversial topics if we believed they were important to our readers.
What’s one goal your organization has for the next year? With our staffing situation, our immediate goal is to provide the best coverage we can with our resources and expand once we are able to bring new people in.
If your newsroom were a TV show, what would it be called? “Beaver Valley Watchdogs.”
