Tag: Media

Mar 28

2022

Monday Morning Read

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Below is an excerpt from yesterday’s WeeklyPost, which is sent via email every Sunday morning. You can subscribe, for free, here. Ken Kruly has a terrific analysis on New York’s gambling addiction. That is, state’s government’s gambling addiction. It’s a very smart read. Personally, I think the whole gambling thing is getting a bit much. All the ads on my Twitter feed are enough to turn me off. But now we’ve got a pro athlete, no less than hockey superstar Connor McDavid, signing an endorsement deal with an online betting site. And, of course, there’s the continued practice of The Buffalo News[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Mar 20

2022

Monday Morning Read

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Editor’s note: This post is pulled from WeeklyPost, an email newsletter written by Jim Heaney and published Sunday mornings. It recaps our coverage of the previous week and highlights other local, state and national stories that Heaney finds of interest, along with a bit of commentary. If you don’t already subscribe — for free — you can do so at this link. Below is the portion of yesterday’s WeeklyPost entitled “What I’m Reading.” Buffalo Business First had an interesting story last week on eight behind-the-scenes advisers the Buffalo Bills have recruited to help them in their push for a new stadium.  One name jumped[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Mar 6

2022

Monday Morning Read

Published by

Editor’s note: This post is pulled from WeeklyPost, an email newsletter written by Jim Heaney and published Sunday mornings. It recaps our coverage of the previous week and highlights other local, state and national stories that Heaney finds of interest, along with a bit of commentary. If you don’t already subscribe — for free — you can do so at this link.  A story broke late last week that said the Bills stadium deal being struck is going to cost taxpayers over $1 billion. According to Sports Business Journal, taxpayers would cover $850 million of the project’s $1.4 billion price tag,[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 23

2022

Changes afoot at WGRZ

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Big doings this week at WGRZ. Tuesday came the announcement that the station’s parent company, TEGNA, has been sold, pending approval by shareholders and the FCC. The buyer, Standard General, a hedge fund, presently owns just a handful of television stations; TEGNA consists of 64 stations, three of which will be sold as part of the transaction. TEGNA, NextStar and Sinclair, are considered the “Big Three” of television chains.  Standard General is presently TEGNA’s largest shareholder. Ownership of the stations will go private when the transaction is finalized, which is expected in the second half of this year. The Manhattan-based[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 7

2022

The latest news on The Buffalo News

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Here’s the latest on the tussle over the ownership of the chain that owns The Buffalo News: To recap, Alden Global Capital made a bid late last year to purchase Lee Enterprises, whose newspaper holdings include The News. Lee has resisted in a series of maneuvers and the back-and-forth between the companies has gotten quite nasty.  The latest salvo came last week in the release of the chain’s quarterly financial report in which it described its media holdings as “the fastest growing digital subscription platform in local media.” Net profits were $13.2 million. All is good, according to Lee. Alden[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Dec 1

2021

Darth Vader is eyeing The Buffalo News

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The past decade have been tough times for The Buffalo News.  Declining circulation. Smaller profits. Deep cuts in the newsroom staff, resulting in less local news coverage. Things may soon become much more difficult. Alden Global Capital, regarded as the Darth Vader of newspaper chains, has made an offer to buy Lee Enterprises, whose holdings include The News. Alden announced its intentions last week and Lee responded as you would expect to what is clearly a hostile takeover attempt. No matter, the vultures are circling. Chains in general are bad for daily newspapers. Alden is the worst of them. “Every[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jul 5

2020

News outlets struggling to varying degrees

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The state of local news media in Western New York was in a precarious position before anyone heard of COVID-19. Now that the virus has wreaked its havoc on both public health and the economy, the situation is that much more concerning. The problems of The Buffalo News have been well documented previously in this column: smaller staff, less news coverage, shrinking circulation, much thinner profit margins, now in the hands of a chain carrying more than a half-billion-dollars of debt. Yet, The News continues to make money – or was, prior to the pandemic – and puts out a[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 1

2020

Heaney talks News downsizing on WBFO

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Jim Heaney has detailed the furloughs and layoffs announced by The Buffalo News on Tuesday. He discussed the impact, along with the obstinance of Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz in dealing with the press during the COVID-19 crisis, with Jay Moran on WBFO. Give a listen.  

Posted 4 years ago
Investigative Post

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