Jump to content

Buffalo News in financial trouble


Recommended Posts

I find it funny that a company owned by Warren Buffett would be in financial trouble. The Oligarch worth $75 Billion should stop taking so much money out of the paper and find a way to lower operating costs by taking less money back to Omaha.

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The loss of NeXt pains me. It's where I got in my start in journalism years ago. We all were contacted by the current manager asking us to write a short memory piece for the last one on Thursday. That'll be a bittersweet one. 

 

Simply put, the management of the News is so ungodly inept it makes me angry. I have never seen a bigger bunch of blowhards that don't know how to run the paper. They wanted to turn it into a mini NY Times, which is why they killed the partnership with the Associated Press. That was the beginning of the end. 

 

What do they have now? A crappy editorial section, a few good columnists (Sean Kirst deserves a Pulitzer) and some local news hounds like Maki Becker. 

 

They failed to adapt to the times and to the market. They could be doing well. They tried to be something that they could not. BN University? What a goddamn joke. 

  • Like (+1) 5
  • Sad 1
  • Thank you (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, BillsEnthusiast said:

The loss of NeXt pains me. It's where I got in my start in journalism years ago. We all were contacted by the current manager asking us to write a short memory piece for the last one on Thursday. That'll be a bittersweet one. 

 

Simply put, the management of the News is so ungodly inept it makes me angry. I have never seen a bigger bunch of blowhards that don't know how to run the paper. They wanted to turn it into a mini NY Times, which is why they killed the partnership with the Associated Press. That was the beginning of the end. 

 

What do they have now? A crappy editorial section, a few good columnists (Sean Kirst deserves a Pulitzer) and some local news hounds like Maki Becker. 

 

They failed to adapt to the times and to the market. They could be doing well. They tried to be something that they could not. BN University? What a goddamn joke. 

I want you to know I read this in my best Muscle Man voice.

  • Haha (+1) 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, Dr.Sack said:

I find it funny that a company owned by Warren Buffett would be in financial trouble. The Oligarch worth $75 Billion should stop taking so much money out of the paper and find a way to lower operating costs by taking less money back to Omaha.

This level of financial acumen belongs in the Business section of The Buffalo News!

  • Haha (+1) 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:

 

 

...dog training material.....Jerry's column works best...........

 

I brought back newspaper after a game and when done put it in bird cage.  My parrot refused to go in.  Some have taste and some have knee pads.

  • Like (+1) 1
  • Haha (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

I’d be curious to see if the opinions here match what the metrics tell them... 

 

are fans quick to hate jerry but likewise quick to click?

 

 

Would be interesting to see.  Can't speak for others, but won't even type his name in the very few threads that he's been discussed.  Haven't read any articles of his in at least 10 years.  

 

Though somewhere, still have a clipping of his classic '90 prediction that the Bills would stink because they would once again be the Bickering Bills. :)

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, Captain_Quint said:

I can't believe that they still list 16 pages of TV listings for the week. That's insanity in 2018. 

 

 

And let me guess... another full page devoted to a weather forecast that's over 12 hours old?  Horoscopes?  A column dedicated to a particular Bridge setup?  Classified ads that are nothing more than a bunch of legal notices?  Buffett should have killed the print product or sold off its assets to one of the local TV stations years ago.

 

Somewhat related, my parents back in NYS just dropped their subscription to the Poughkeepsie Journal.  Gannett was asking $650 for a year of the PJ, which was mostly USA Today articles with a dash or two of stories written locally, mostly consisting of high school sports.  It's a shame that Gannett/PJ hasn't adapted to the internet because the Mid Hudson Valley has no local TV, and being part of the NYC DMA, gets next to zero local coverage of anything happening in the area.  My dad apparently won't miss it... my mom was more worried about losing coupons than missing out on any actual news.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thankfully do not live where the Buffalo News in the main source of information. When I visit family-which is basically a few weeks every year- I find it pathetic. Sullivan basically reruns the same columns each year with new names but same bashing. The rest of news is always with the same slant and never only facts. If you are going to go the route of sensationalist then you need to know you will shrink your audience when the intelligent people realize it. Most of Buffalo is intelligent and has decided that they want a different choice which is now readily available.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Captain_Quint said:

I can't believe that they still list 16 pages of TV listings for the week. That's insanity in 2018. 

 

I swear my octogenarian mother still subscribes to the local print edition mostly for the TV listings (she can't figure out that damn on screen guide thingy) and the daily horoscope and celebrity birthdays. You lose that base and what's left?

I haven't subscribed to a local paper for about half a dozen years, but I'd hate to see them disappear. I just don't see how they survive though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Print is dead.  We recently went from getting the whole week, to just Friday to Sunday.  Had too many unread copies being tossed out.  Only parts of the Buffalo News I care about are The Gusto and the Sunday paper.

 

Find it funny when you read news that is 48 hours old by the time I get the paper.  Actually forgot what I’m reading happened.

 

I don’t need to read a paper that is full of MY opinions. I want a paper that has its own opinion, but is not biased.  Never believed a newspaper should force their options on the readers.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, BillsEnthusiast said:

The loss of NeXt pains me. It's where I got in my start in journalism years ago. We all were contacted by the current manager asking us to write a short memory piece for the last one on Thursday. That'll be a bittersweet one. 

 

Simply put, the management of the News is so ungodly inept it makes me angry. I have never seen a bigger bunch of blowhards that don't know how to run the paper. They wanted to turn it into a mini NY Times, which is why they killed the partnership with the Associated Press. That was the beginning of the end. 

 

What do they have now? A crappy editorial section, a few good columnists (Sean Kirst deserves a Pulitzer) and some local news hounds like Maki Becker. 

 

They failed to adapt to the times and to the market. They could be doing well. They tried to be something that they could not. BN University? What a goddamn joke. 

 

Know how you feel, where I work it's the same thing, I don't know how we are still in business. We had a 40 yr employee go off on the management (I know not smart) and he was fired immediately. He was right though.

 

 

BN University ??

 

 

Edited by Buffalo Barbarian
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It doesn’t take a rockwt scientist to figure out their model was severely outdated even a few years ago.  I feel bad because I fell that the content in the News is very high quality.  

 

The other thing that I think made everyone scratch their heads was the whole

Bliss Blitz paywall.  Again, the content and reporters (despite what some may think) are actually good.  But with so many news outlets available for free on the internet both locally and nationally,  the idea to pay for sports coverage didn’t seem like it would work.  ESPN is even having issues with premium accounts

  • Thank you (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Limeaid said:

They need to set up a retirement fund for Jerry on GoFundMe to get him out.  It is a race and he is slower than a snail and slowing them down.  Help Barnacle Bucky leave too. 

Eff that.  Let he and a few other columnists be assigned a Bookface identity, and they can pontificate from that platform.  Strictly on a voluntary basis, as the rest of the commentary is.

 

Hard news reporting seems in short supply there.  Their idea of news appears to be 'Smiles At' photo galleries.

Edited by Ridgewaycynic2013
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, TheTruthHurts said:

Who will I not get my sports news from now? 

 

Hate to see anyone lose their job though. Hopefully they can pull through this. 

 

Thank you. Regardless of the salty takes Sully et al have had over the years - most of which warranted, frankly - these are still people with families. At the end of the day, this isn't the fault of the reporters per se, but that of the execs and digital people that ever really made TBN that enticing from a design standpoint. The site is clunky and not programmed well by an editor. They probably could go use a wordpress theme and have a better site in a week. 

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, billsfan1960 said:

When I lived in Buffalo, my paper of choice was the Courier Express, the writes were better along with the sports coverage in my opinion. Phil Randall (I think) was a great spots writer.

 

 

I think you mean Phil Ranallo.

Very funny guy. Used to write the "What's up Harry" sports column.

His bet stuff was Monday mornings after any Bills game.

Delivered that paper for three years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...