UPDATED: July 2, 2020 at 12:40 a.m.

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When protests against racism and police brutality erupted in Pittsburgh, Michael Santiago, a former staff photographer for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, found himself barred from covering the demonstrations.

Santiago, a Black photojournalist and Syracuse University alumnus, has dedicated much of his career to photographing diverse communities. But conflicts between editors and several staff members over the treatment of Black reporters within the Post-Gazette led him to accept a buyout in June to leave the paper.

“I think a lot of news organizations are realizing that they need Black voices,” said Santiago, who graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2019.

Pittsburgh’s diversity as a city that is 23.2% Black is not well reflected among the Post-Gazette’s majority-white news staff, Santiago said. Santiago—who was barred from protest coverage after voicing support for a colleague who faced a similar ban—said his time at the paper has ended partly because of that disconnect.

Alexis Johnson, a Black Post-Gazette reporter, recently faced scrutiny from the paper’s managing editors after she posted a tweet in response to complaints of looting during what have been largely peaceful anti-racism protests in Pittsburgh. The tweet went viral and quickly gained the attention of PPG editors, who blocked Johnson from covering any protests for the paper, citing the tweet as evidence of her bias.

Horrifying scenes and aftermath from selfish LOOTERS who don’t care about this city!!!!!

…. oh wait sorry. No, these are pictures from a Kenny Chesney concert tailgate. Whoops. pic.twitter.com/lKRNrBsltU

— Alexis Johnson (@alexisjreports) May 31, 2020

The paper’s editors barred Santiago from protest coverage after he voiced support for Johnson. Santiago had photographed the wave of anti-racism protests in the city as recently as May 30.

Johnson has since filed a lawsuit against the Post-Gazette, alleging illegal retaliation and racial discrimination in the paper’s handling of her protest coverage. She declined to comment on the situation, saying she is no longer able to speak about it publicly due to the lawsuit.

More than 80 other PPG staff members have expressed support to Johnson. PPG editors responded by publishing coverage of protests without bylines, Santiago said.

“When we see our names in print underneath the bylines, it makes us feel good,” Santiago said. “To take your names off stories is just, it’s definitely a way of silencing people.”

I will always wholeheartedly stand with @alexisjreports!! Her voice is desperately needed now. https://t.co/AUPb1gD7I7

— Michael M. Santiago (@msantiagophotos) June 4, 2020

Some journalists who spoke out also fell under the paper’s blanket approach of barring staff who expressed support for Johnson from covering protests.

The circumstances at the Post-Gazette could not come at a worse time, as the U.S. is again experiencing mass protests after a police officer killed a Black man, Santiago said. George Floyd was allegedly murdered May 25 after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

As a photojournalist, Santiago is all too familiar with scenes of community grief. He undertook a freelance project in 2017 that documented the experiences of one of Syracuse’s Black police officers. Only a year later, he covered protests that arose after a white former police officer was acquitted in the killing of Antwon Rose II, a Black teenager, in East Pittsburgh. His coverage of the 2018 mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting alongside a team of reporters.

When photographing the recent wave of protests to sweep across Pittsburgh, Santiago again found himself in the center of a community torn apart by grief.

“Whenever I have to cover these things it just kind of feels like deja vu,” he said. “And you know, things need to change.”

This time, things are actually changing, Santiago said.

Calls for defunding and reforming police are gaining traction across the county, including in New York state, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently passed legislation that will make police disciplinary records more transparent.

Monuments to racist historical figures are also coming down in cities across the country. In Syracuse, Indigenous community members are pushing for the removal of a statue of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle.

But instead of photographing these moments, Santiago has only been able to watch them from afar.

“It’s a sad point in my career because I should be out here documenting this,” Santiago said. “I mean, I have no words that can express how I feel not to be out there.”

Santiago accepted a buyout from the Post-Gazette on June 13. When he leaves Pittsburgh, he will depart not only from a job, but from a city he has a personal connection to.

In his two years as a staff photographer for the Post-Gazette, Santiago went out of his way to attend community events off-assignment and get to know residents. Many newspapers have negative relationships with Black communities since reporters only interact with these communities after a tragic event, he said.

“People shouldn’t see us and automatically assume we’re there because something bad happens,” Santiago said. “That’s the reason why a lot of Black journalists and Black voices are important, especially during these times.”

Santiago’s time at Newhouse helped prepare him to enter the photojournalism field, but he didn’t fully learn about the structure and dynamics of a newsroom until after he graduated, he said. He also worked as a freelance photographer for The Daily Orange in his last year at SU.

Santiago said he is, overall, grateful for his time at Newhouse.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Newhouse,” he said.

Keith Burris, the Post-Gazette’s executive editor, wrote a column June 10 refuting claims that the paper barred Johnson and Santiago from covering protests because they are Black.

“We assumed the lie was so outrageous that it did not need refutation,” Burris wrote. “But we underestimated the power of social media and the corrosive potency of the racist label.”

Burris’ column only worsened the situation, Santiago said. The piece—which did not include an apology—dehumanized Johnson by failing to mention her name directly until its conclusion, he said.

“It just shows that (Burris) really doesn’t understand the decisions that he’s making, and he’s also not taking the feelings of his employees into consideration,” Santiago said. “It’s basically just about him and how he feels.”

In a statement posted to Twitter on June 10, Johnson said the Post-Gazette’s response “reflects the exact systemic racism and oppression of diverse voices that (she) dared to call out in the first place.”

Santiago and other employees remained vocal about the paper’s actions throughout June, attracting national media attention and the support of journalists across the country. The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists both released statements condemning the Post-Gazette’s actions.

When Santiago’s time with the Post-Gazette ends, he plans to move to New York state and start over. He hopes to resume photographing the protests as soon as he can, he said.

In the meantime, he will continue photographing scenes that the paper directs him toward, but he won’t be on the lookout for new stories to pursue there, he said.

Student journalists of color should continue to speak up if they sense that something is wrong in their workplace or schools, Santiago said.

“Don’t stay silent,” he said. “Protect one another and also just work hard. Unfortunately, that phrase (about how) we (journalists of color) have to be twice as good as our counterparts unfortunately is true in this business.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Santiago said the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette removed bylines from the stories of journalists who spoke out against the publication. Santiago said the publication published protest coverage without bylines.

Published on July 1, 2020 at 5:26 pm

Contact Marnie: [email protected]