Jim Heaney

Jim Heaney is editor and executive director of Investigative Post. He was an investigative reporter with The Buffalo News from 1986 to 2011 and a reporter and editor with The Orlando Sentinel from 1980-86. His coverage over the years has focused on economic development, local and state government, politics, education, housing and transportation, and he was an early practitioner of computer-assisted reporting. Heaney has won more than 20 journalism awards and was a finalist for the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

Dec 14

2016

Investigative Post’s top stories of 2016

It’s time to take stock of our reporting for 2016 – and it’s been quite a year for Investigative Post. Our reporting over the past two years involving the Buffalo Billion program triggered an investigation by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara that resulted in the indictment this fall of nine state officials and business executives, including nanotech guru Alain Kaloyeros and Louis Ciminelli, one of Buffalo’s most successful business owners and political powers. Other work has had impact as well, most notably reporting by Dan Telvock on the city’s lead poisoning crisis. After a lot of hemming and hawing, city and[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Dec 2

2016

Heaney talks Trump & media on ‘Pressroom

Jim Heaney and Susan Arbetter discuss the coming storm involving Donald Trump and the press on The Capitol Pressroom. Heaney said that while there is reason for concern, other politicians, most notably Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have acted to undermine the press, so Trump’s hostility is hardly novel. The interview, which aired Dec. 1, runs from 0:57 to 12:48.

Posted 8 years ago

Nov 22

2016

Erie County Water Authority blows a gasket

It’s been awhile since I saw a bunch of government types become as unhinged as the gang at the Erie County Water Authority. Dan Telvock reported on Nov. 7 that the authority cut corners in its program to test the drinking water it supplies to some 550,000 customers in Western New York, primarily those in Buffalo’s immediate suburbs. In a nutshell, the authority didn’t always heed a federal requirement that they test water in the houses deemed most at risk because of the presence of a lead service line or lead solder in interior plumbing, and used the houses of[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Nov 1

2016

Heaney talks police training with ‘Pressroom

Jim Heaney talks with Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom about a story published Monday by Investigative Post on the Buffalo Police Department’s failure to update its “use of force” training for officers. The interview runs from 36:53 to 49:13

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 14

2016

Podcast: Journalist Lee Coppola

In this episode of Investigative Postcast, Lee Coppola talks with Jim Heaney about his career as an investigative reporter and journalism educator. Coppola discussed the best story he did for The Buffalo News, which became the basis of a book and Hollywood film; his experience as a television reporter; and what prompted him to take the job as dean of the School of Journalism at St. Bonaventure University. Coppola also discussed what’s been gained and lost as reporters take advantage of technology to research and produce stories. Investigative Post is honoring Coppola for distinguished service to local journalism at[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 11

2016

‘Billion mastermind Kaloyeros resigns

The fall from grace is just about complete for Alain Kaloyeros. The so-called “nano-tech guru” who Gov. Andrew Cuomo has praised as a “near genius” has resigned as CEO of SUNY Polytechnic Institute. His success building a nano-technology sector in the Albany area prompted Cuomo to put Kaloyeros in charge of his initiative to revitalize the upstate economy through a series a big-ticket projects in Buffalo, Dunkirk, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica. But reporting by Investigative Post into the awarding of a lucrative contract to LPCiminelli to build a factory for SolarCity triggered investigations by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and State Attorney General Eric[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 6

2016

Podcast: Margaret Sullivan on the media

In this episode of Investigative Postcast, Margaret Sullivan talks with Jim Heaney about the current state of the press and her work as media columnist with The Washington Post. Sullivan, who previously served as editor in chief of The Buffalo News and public editor of New York Times, also discussed the state of investigative reporting, which will be the topic of her keynote address at a gala dinner Oct. 19 hosted by Investigative Post, a nonprofit investigative reporting center based in Buffalo, N.Y. (Order your tickets here.) “Local investigative reporting is threatened throughout the country and really needs to be[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Sep 23

2016

Double talk from Cuomo on ‘Billion indictments

Gov. Andrew Cuomo obviously believes the best defense is a good offense. The governor came to town Friday, fresh off the indictment of three of his close associates and two of his major campaign contributors and attempted to claim victory. He told a gathering at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery that Buffalo is booming and announced a second phase of the Buffalo Billion program is coming as soon as Howard Zemsky figures out what it should involve. In short, Cuomo tried to change the topic. Only after his remarks before a sympathetic audience at the art gallery did he address the[...]

Posted 9 years ago