I relocated from Buffalo to Charlottesville, Va., and for years maintained a digital subscription to The Buffalo News. As a former journalist (and a paperboy for the News during my childhood), I did it mainly out of a sense of solidarity and understanding what would happen to my hometown with the loss of its only major newspaper. Since Lee Enterprises came in, the product quality dropped and the cost increased to the point that I could no longer justify it and canceled my subscription. Ironically, the Charlottesville Daily Progress is also a Lee product and the mirror issues there led to my canceling that subscription, too. I donate regularly to a local non-profit news site but I just don't know how this all ends. People don't understand what it means to have a local newspaper covering their community until it's gone. We're seeing this story play out over and over again across the country and I'm at a loss to see what can be done to stem this tide. Anyway, thanks for this piece. It makes me very sad, though.
I’m also sad about the decline of locally produced papers and the increasing pressure on reporters that follows (relocated reporters now have tighter deadlines). This letter gives much appreciated background and a personal connection that helps make it “real”. Thank you.
So sorry for you, the workers, Buffalo and all of us. Behind the folksy demeanor and comments Buffett has *always* been about the return on investment.
Here, the major Chicago papers are largely carcasses. A couple of bright spots are the emergence of hyper local news model Block Club https://blockclubchicago.org/ and ProPublica beefing up its essential work.
I fondly recall lunches with pros like Foster Spencer, Len Halpert, Lee Coppola, George Borrelli, et. al. listening to the glory days of local news when the News competed with the Courier-Express. But the stories soon devolved into laments for the decline in the commitment to excellence they were witnessing, declines not always apparent to the public. I was present for the death of the Courier. I may now be present for death of journalism in Buffalo all together.
Agreed the loss of local newspapers has had a very negative effect on the United States. It has changed how people vote, how people know what is going on in their communities and even how people talk with one another. I always thought local news outlets would survive if only they competed with digital news. I think I am wrong about that. Unfortunately, local news outlets had the brick and mortar philosophy and could not move into the 21 century. This is not unique to the US, it has also happened to Europe. Is this by design of the millionaires who bought most local news outlets? Perhaps. In my state of NJ we have a few state news outlets, and handful of by weekly local outlets. At one time we had over 2000. It is indeed sad.
Thanks. The weeklies have taken the biggest hit, and while most of them didn't do hard-hitting journalism, they contributed to a sense of community in an important way.
One of the frightening aspects of the decline in local journalism is that much of the public won’t appreciate what the lack of local news coverage means to them in terms of local governance. After a time it will be perceived as normal, and people’s lives will be the worse for it.
The photo gallery was beautiful. They clearly care about doing a good job, so I'm sure it was tough to do it for the last time. The librarian/archivist in me hopes some of those plates, a few copies of the last issue and other related ephemera made it to the county historical society or local history room some where in the area.
I agree about the photos. Thank you. (And just to be clear, the paper hasn't gone out of business. It will be printed in Cleveland, and continue to publish on line, as before.)
This is indeed sad...and beautifully written. For what it's worth, I've consulted with several local news orgs, and I think what needs to happen is to: 1) overcome journalists' deep reluctance to be the story; and then 2) make a compelling case to all age groups in the community that there are direct and dire consequences without local reporting. Every single person in that region needs to hear the message of how much they personally benefit from good journalism, so they get fired up to keep it going. Marketing is helpful, but it's nowhere near enough. I firmly believe news orgs should adopt the nonprofit model and raise revenue via development - which is (literally) developing lifelong relationships with donors. Development communicates an exciting vision, educates, and engages. It makes supporters feel they're building the world they want to live in. And it works: America's nonprofits are the third largest employer in the U.S., growing jobs 4 times faster than for-profit orgs. It's therefore so painful to me to see news orgs miss the enormous potential the development model offers. It does require hiring staff, but a good development person brings in many times their salary. It also requires a company-wide fundraising mindset, which is a hard shift for many journalists to make...but shouldn't be, because they are offering irreplaceable, measurable, life-changing value to their communities, and there is zero reason to be shy about making sure the community knows that...!
I have a house in Canandaigua, but I don't get up there often. I subscribe digitally to a Rochester paper and the local papers. My neighbors are almost all very MAGA, so my thinking was let me see what they're reading. Apparently, local team sport scores take pride of place over politics and world news. It's sad to hear even my left-leaning friends up there say they don't have time to think about politics. You are so right when you say the death of print journalism is a crisis for democracy. In Israel, a tech-savvy nation, even young people read the papers and discuss politics. They are completely engaged. I wish that were true here.
I relocated from Buffalo to Charlottesville, Va., and for years maintained a digital subscription to The Buffalo News. As a former journalist (and a paperboy for the News during my childhood), I did it mainly out of a sense of solidarity and understanding what would happen to my hometown with the loss of its only major newspaper. Since Lee Enterprises came in, the product quality dropped and the cost increased to the point that I could no longer justify it and canceled my subscription. Ironically, the Charlottesville Daily Progress is also a Lee product and the mirror issues there led to my canceling that subscription, too. I donate regularly to a local non-profit news site but I just don't know how this all ends. People don't understand what it means to have a local newspaper covering their community until it's gone. We're seeing this story play out over and over again across the country and I'm at a loss to see what can be done to stem this tide. Anyway, thanks for this piece. It makes me very sad, though.
Thanks for your comment. I appreciate that you care. The main hope is the newer models, but in my view, they don't fully replace the daily paper.
I’m also sad about the decline of locally produced papers and the increasing pressure on reporters that follows (relocated reporters now have tighter deadlines). This letter gives much appreciated background and a personal connection that helps make it “real”. Thank you.
So sorry for you, the workers, Buffalo and all of us. Behind the folksy demeanor and comments Buffett has *always* been about the return on investment.
Here, the major Chicago papers are largely carcasses. A couple of bright spots are the emergence of hyper local news model Block Club https://blockclubchicago.org/ and ProPublica beefing up its essential work.
'Fraid so, Gene.
I fondly recall lunches with pros like Foster Spencer, Len Halpert, Lee Coppola, George Borrelli, et. al. listening to the glory days of local news when the News competed with the Courier-Express. But the stories soon devolved into laments for the decline in the commitment to excellence they were witnessing, declines not always apparent to the public. I was present for the death of the Courier. I may now be present for death of journalism in Buffalo all together.
I hope not, Steve.
Agreed the loss of local newspapers has had a very negative effect on the United States. It has changed how people vote, how people know what is going on in their communities and even how people talk with one another. I always thought local news outlets would survive if only they competed with digital news. I think I am wrong about that. Unfortunately, local news outlets had the brick and mortar philosophy and could not move into the 21 century. This is not unique to the US, it has also happened to Europe. Is this by design of the millionaires who bought most local news outlets? Perhaps. In my state of NJ we have a few state news outlets, and handful of by weekly local outlets. At one time we had over 2000. It is indeed sad.
Thanks. The weeklies have taken the biggest hit, and while most of them didn't do hard-hitting journalism, they contributed to a sense of community in an important way.
One of the frightening aspects of the decline in local journalism is that much of the public won’t appreciate what the lack of local news coverage means to them in terms of local governance. After a time it will be perceived as normal, and people’s lives will be the worse for it.
It's hard to know what you don't know. But we do know that public officials need scrutiny. Thank you.
The photo gallery was beautiful. They clearly care about doing a good job, so I'm sure it was tough to do it for the last time. The librarian/archivist in me hopes some of those plates, a few copies of the last issue and other related ephemera made it to the county historical society or local history room some where in the area.
I agree about the photos. Thank you. (And just to be clear, the paper hasn't gone out of business. It will be printed in Cleveland, and continue to publish on line, as before.)
This is indeed sad...and beautifully written. For what it's worth, I've consulted with several local news orgs, and I think what needs to happen is to: 1) overcome journalists' deep reluctance to be the story; and then 2) make a compelling case to all age groups in the community that there are direct and dire consequences without local reporting. Every single person in that region needs to hear the message of how much they personally benefit from good journalism, so they get fired up to keep it going. Marketing is helpful, but it's nowhere near enough. I firmly believe news orgs should adopt the nonprofit model and raise revenue via development - which is (literally) developing lifelong relationships with donors. Development communicates an exciting vision, educates, and engages. It makes supporters feel they're building the world they want to live in. And it works: America's nonprofits are the third largest employer in the U.S., growing jobs 4 times faster than for-profit orgs. It's therefore so painful to me to see news orgs miss the enormous potential the development model offers. It does require hiring staff, but a good development person brings in many times their salary. It also requires a company-wide fundraising mindset, which is a hard shift for many journalists to make...but shouldn't be, because they are offering irreplaceable, measurable, life-changing value to their communities, and there is zero reason to be shy about making sure the community knows that...!
Thanks so much. You make a good case here.
I have a house in Canandaigua, but I don't get up there often. I subscribe digitally to a Rochester paper and the local papers. My neighbors are almost all very MAGA, so my thinking was let me see what they're reading. Apparently, local team sport scores take pride of place over politics and world news. It's sad to hear even my left-leaning friends up there say they don't have time to think about politics. You are so right when you say the death of print journalism is a crisis for democracy. In Israel, a tech-savvy nation, even young people read the papers and discuss politics. They are completely engaged. I wish that were true here.
Thanks, Amy. The over-emphasis on sports coverage is absurd.
"STOP THE PRESSES! (Within 24 hours, I went into labor "
So you were Michael Keaton AND Marisa Tomei
The Paper! One of the great journalism movies. (You're right; I never thought about how I combined those roles.)
Let's see Marty Baron do that
There are limits to even Marty’s greatness
We continue to get hard copy and digital but it’s certainly not the same paper of the past.
With the shrunken staff, the earlier deadlines, etc., it can't be. Hard to see. Thank you.