Winston-Salem Chronicle Founder Ernie Pitt Dies

Ernest Harold Pitt, the original owner and publisher of The Winston-Salem Chronicle, died on Oct. 23. He was 80. Pitt led the newspaper for 43 years, transforming a small weekly publication into a central institution for the city's African-American community.

The Chronicle was founded in 1974 with no investors or initial capital. Pitt began the operation as a four-page weekly. He and his then-wife, Elaine, handled the logistics of keeping the paper in circulation. Pitt sold advertising to maintain financial viability and reported on local issues that challenged the Twin City's political structure.

Pitt’s career in publishing began after a period of military service and incarceration. The U.S. Army sent him to Vietnam in 1965 as a teenager. He later spent two to three years in prison, where he taught classes to inmates. Ben Ruffin, a special assistant to then-Gov. Jim Hunt, helped secure Pitt's pardon.

Pitt identified his writing talent while attending NC A&T University in Greensboro. He selected Winston-Salem as the site for his newspaper because it was the only major city in North Carolina without a Black press outlet. He sold the paper to The Chronicle Media Group in 2017.

In April 2022, Pitt was inducted into the North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame. His son, Wali, described Pitt as a pioneering publisher and community leader. “For 43 years, he led The Winston-Salem Chronicle,” Wali said.

Pitt also served as president of the NC Black Publishers Association. On April 29, 2008, he led a roundtable of state publishers to welcome then-Sen. Barack Obama. The meeting is preserved in a video that remains available online.

Pitt viewed his life path as a series of challenges that shaped his work. “You can only be resurrected when you’ve gone through the fire,” he once said. “And I’ve been through the fire several times.”