The Buffalo News
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Lee Enterprises (2020–present) Berkshire Hathaway (1977–2020) |
| Publisher | Tom Wiley |
| Editor | Margarete Kenny Giancola[1] |
| Founded | October 11, 1880 as the Buffalo Evening News |
| Headquarters | Buffalo |
| Circulation | 69,842 Daily 89,694 Sunday (as of 2023)[2] |
| ISSN | 0745-2691 |
| OCLC number | 8882862 |
| Website | buffalonews |
The Buffalo News is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York.
It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.[3] On January 29, 2020, the paper reported that it was being sold to Lee Enterprises.[4]
History
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The Buffalo News was founded as a Sunday paper with the name The Buffalo Sunday Morning News in 1873 by Edward Hubert Butler, Sr..[5][6] On October 11, 1880,[7] it began publishing daily editions as well, and in 1914, it became an inversion of its original existence by publishing Monday to Saturday, with no publication on Sunday. During most of its life, the News was known as The Buffalo Evening News. A gentleman's agreement between the Evening News and the Buffalo Courier-Express meant that the Evening News would be evening-only, and the Courier-Express would be morning-only. Until 1977, the News did not publish on Sundays because of the agreement, and its weekend edition appeared on Saturday evening.
The Butler family owned the Evening News until 1974, when longtime owner and publisher Katherine Butler, granddaughter of the founder, died and left no heirs.[8] The Evening News properties were placed in a blind trust, which sold the Evening News to Berkshire Hathaway in 1977.[3] The new owners began publishing on Saturday and Sunday mornings.[6] After a period of financial decline, the Courier-Express published its last issue on September 19, 1982. The Evening News then shortened its name to The Buffalo News and became an all-day newspaper, publishing two editions seven days a week.
On October 1, 2006, the News announced it would abandon its evening edition later that month.
The Buffalo News had published three morning editions (Western New York, Final and Niagara) that appeared online at BuffaloNews.com, reaching over 400,000 readers, across eight counties each day. These separate editions were eliminated in 2018 and consolidated into a single Final edition, in response to a newsprint shortage.[9]
The News' Designated Market Area had the largest adult population in upstate New York. Counties in total circulation area: New York - Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Steuben, Wyoming; Pennsylvania - Cameron, Erie, McKean, Potter, Warren.[citation needed]
The newspaper founded and owned the WBEN television and radio stations, which are now WIVB (Channel 4), WBEN (930), WYRK (106.5) and WBKV (102.5), respectively. The radio stations are now owned by other companies, but in 2014, WIVB came back under partial co-ownership with the News when Buffett's Media General merged with the WIVB parent company, LIN Media.
The online version of The Buffalo News operates under a soft paywall allowing a limited number of page views per week. All Buffalo Bills-related content, branded as "BN Blitz", is behind a hard paywall.
On January 29, 2020, the News reported it was being sold along – with the rest of Berkshire Hathaway's newspaper portfolio – to Lee Enterprises, an Iowa-based owner of 50 newspapers that has had significant ties to Berkshire Hathaway since 2012 and had operated Berkshire Hathaway's newspapers since 2018.[4] In September 2024, ten jobs were eliminated from the newsroom which has an estimated 55 positions.[10]
Pulitzer Prizes
[edit]Journalists for The Buffalo News and The Buffalo Evening News have won four Pulitzer Prizes:
- In 1958, Bruce Shanks received the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning for his August 10, 1957 piece, "The Thinker", detailing union corruption.
- In 1961, Edgar May received the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for his series, "Our Costly Dilemma," concerning the need for reform of New York State's welfare system. The series touched off debates about welfare reform nationwide.
- In 1990, Tom Toles brought the News its second Editorial Cartooning award, for his work throughout the year (although his piece "First Amendment" has been cited as the work that merited the award).
- In 2015, Adam Zyglis won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning for using, in the committee's citation, "strong images to connect with readers while conveying layers of meaning in few words".
News journalists have been finalists for four other Pulitzer Prizes, but did not win:
- Toles (1985 and 1996, for Editorial Cartooning) and,
- James Heaney (1993, for Investigative Reporting) and,
- Staff (2015, for Breaking News Reporting).
Publishers and editors
[edit]- Publishers
- Edward Hubert Butler, Sr., 1880–1914: also founder
- Edward Hubert Butler Jr., 1914–1956: son of Butler Sr
- James H. Righter, 1956–1971
- Kate M. Robinson Butler, 1971–1974: wife of Butler Jr
- Henry Z. Urban, 1974–1983
- Stanford Lipsey, 1983–2013
- Warren T. Colville, 2013–2020
- Tom Wiley, 2020–
- Editors
- Alfred H. Kirchhofer, 1956–1966
- Paul E. Neville, 1966–1969
- Murray B. Light, 1979–1999
- Margaret M. Sullivan, 1999—2012
- Michael K. Connelly, 2012–2022[11]
- Sheila Rayam, 2022–2024 [12]
- Margaret Kenny Giancola
References
[edit]- ^ "Margaret Kenny Giancola named editor-in-chief of The Buffalo News". The Buffalo News. 8 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
- ^ Lee Enterprises. "Form 10-K". investors.lee.net. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ a b "EXCLUSIVE: Warren Buffett — Newspaper Industry Got Too Complacent". Editor & Publisher. December 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ^ a b Robinson, David (January 29, 2020). "The Buffalo News is being sold to Lee Enterprises". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ Light, Murray B. (2011). From Butler to Buffett: The Story Behind the Buffalo News. Prometheus Books. p. 39. ISBN 9781615924790.
- ^ a b Frequently Asked Questions Archived 2011-03-28 at the Wayback Machine, www.buffalonews.com
- ^ "About Buffalo Evening News. [volume] (Buffalo, N.Y.) 1880-1982". Library of Congress. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "Mrs. Edward H. Butler, News Publisher, is Dead; a Civic, Cultural Leader". Buffalo Evening News. 5 August 1974. Retrieved 16 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ James Fink (May 23, 2018). "Nine Buffalo News staffers take buyout offers". Buffalo Business First. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
- ^ Heaney, Jim (2024-09-27). "Buffalo News is eliminating 10 newsroom jobs". Investigative Post. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
- ^ Gee, Denise Jewell (18 September 2012). "Sarasota editor named Buffalo News editor". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ Harris, Jon (26 July 2022). "Sheila Rayam named executive editor of The Buffalo News; first Black journalist to lead newsroom". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
External links
[edit]- Official website
Media related to The Buffalo News at Wikimedia Commons- As of September 2022, New York State Historic Newspapers has 1881-1905 issues of the Buffalo Evening News online for free, full-text access, with more to come.
- As of October 2022, Newspapers.com has 1881-2022 issues of the Buffalo News online on a paid subscription basis. Some public and academic libraries offer Newspapers.com to their users.
