Newspaper dies of self-inflicted wounds

• Share on
• 
• 
• 
• 

Striking journalists and supporters of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2022. Photo courtesy of Communications Workers of America.

---

Big city newspapers are constantly downsizing. It’s worse in Pittsburgh, where the Post-Gazette announced last week that it’s closing altogether in May. The publisher cited $350 million in losses over the past 20 years, which suggests management didn’t do a good job running the business. The Buffalo News, for example, has operated in the black the past couple of decades, although its profit margin has shrunk over the years.

Sour grapes also appear to be involved with the decision to close. The union that represents the paper’s journalists prevailed in its yearslong legal fight against Block Communications, which it accused, and a judge agreed, were bad-faith bargaining practices. With the ruling in hand, the union ended its three-year strike in November.

The Post-Gazette is the city’s last remaining print daily, although it prints only twice a week. Pittsburgh’s other daily newspaper, the Tribune-Review, only publishes online. The city also has Public Source, a nonprofit news outlet like Investigative Post.

News organizations are hurting elsewhere. Print, broadcast and digital outlets shed  2,254 jobs last year, although it was only half as many as 2024. Major outlets cutting jobs in 2025 include The Washington Post, CNN and CBS News, which appears to be headed for troubled times, given Tony Dokoupil’s first week as anchor of its evening news. He comes across as a Fox News wannabe.

Finally on the media front, if you subscribe to the online edition of The Buffalo News, here’s a link to Adam Zyglins’ best work of 2025. He’s an editorial cartoonist par excellence. (A suggestion to News management: allow online subscribers to share stories, called gift links, with friends and followers. Your journalism would enjoy a wider readership.)

---

---

A Buffalo News analysis found Sean Ryan passed a higher percentage of bills he sponsored last year and got signed into law than any member of the local delegation. Coming in a close second was Sen. Thomas O’Mara, a Republican whose district includes a part of Allegany County. Ryan, O’Mara and Assemblymember Crystal Peoples-Stokes each got about 20 percent of their bills passed.

On the other hand, other Republican lawmakers got relatively few bills passed, not surprising given Democratic control of both the Senate and Assembly. Patrick Gallivan got only 2.6 percent of his bills passed — as in three of 115. Rob Ortt, the Senate minority leader, got only 6 percent of his bills passed.

I’m not surprised at Ortt’s number, as he seems more interested in tossing rhetorical bombs than actually legislating.

---

State racing officials have turned a blind eye to the illegal activities of horse owners, trainers and veterinarians. “​​Even a former FBI agent handing New York key documents on a silver platter couldn’t jolt state regulators into action,” New York Focus reports. 

---

The Buffalo-Niagara job market continues to sputter, The Buffalo News reports.

David Robinson wrote:

Some parts of the market are doing quite well, namely the education and health care sectors, along with local government.

But others are struggling, and those include some of the better-paying segments of the job market, in fields like manufacturing, information and construction, along with finance and insurance.

---

Health insurance premiums are increasing an average of 38 percent for New Yorkers counting on the Affordable Care Act for coverage. There’s a move afoot in Congress to provide relief as some Republicans are voting with Democrats to find a solution.

---

---

Audits by the state comptroller’s office found two WNY school districts – Cheektowaga-Maryvale and Fredonia Central – “did not properly identify, report or implement needed remediation to reduce lead exposure in all potable water outlets.” 

Have they not heard of lead poisoning?

---

Three peas in a pod:

• • Donald Trump, in an interview with The New York Times, the president essentially said he’ll pick and choose what laws and treaties he chooses to follow. Asked if there were any limits on his global powers, Trump said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
  • Vladimir Putin’s army is a lawless and violent military apparatus that abuses its own troops to maintain its assault in Ukraine. “Soldiers are sent to the front despite debilitating medical conditions like broken limbs, Stage 4 cancer, epilepsy, severely damaged vision and hearing, head trauma, schizophrenia and stroke complications.”
  • Benjamin Netanyahu is approving of Israeli settlers, often backed by the army, terrorizing Palentinains living on the West Bank in an effort to drive them from their land and preclude a two-state solution.

All three stories are gift links, so read on.

---

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey doesn’t mince words. Consider his response to the fatal shooting of a motorist by an ICE agent. (Two compelling videos.)

The day after the Minneapolis killing, federal immigration agents shot two people in Portland, Oregon. That brings to 16 the number of people shot by federal immigration agents since Trump took office a year ago. They include both migrants and American citizens. Four people have died, another seven injured.

It’s little wonder public opinion has turned against ICE.