Shake up at the shoe shine rag.

**HipKat** · May 30th, 2018, 10:46 PM

Originally Posted by leftWNYbecauseofBS

The BN is in a lot of trouble but it's a bed that they made. For the last 20 years or so they have been telling their readers how much smarter they are (Donn Esmonde) than paying subscribers and how little the understand sports (Sullivan, Harrington, Graham and Gleason) to fans. If that wasn't enough they mixed in calling readers racist (Watson) for good measure. Mix this in with an utterly incompetent digital and development team who couldn't build a website to save their lives and you arrive at where they are today.

It's not like the region hasn't given the BN material to cover. All you need to do is spend 5 minutes reading a comments section or spend the afternoon at a BBQ with someone 3 arms away from the corruption to realize it exists and goes deep. But for all of the political and 'investigative' reporters they have on staff....they just decided not to cover these stories. Maybe they thought too little of their readers or they just never got the last call on the 'old boys club' that hasn't existed since JFK was in office. Who knows.

I do find it funny that one of the top stories on their website Tuesday morning is a recap of the stories they ran over the long weekend. Then a listicle and a gallery of some concert.

That website is a joke. Half the stories on the home page have been on there for 2+ days in a row

**HipKat** · May 30th, 2018, 10:47 PM

Originally Posted by grump

Absolutely! All joking aside. In another thread, I posted about the Syracuse Post Standard which I got in the habit of looking at some years back. It is so stridently Democratic that it ran a recent article suggesting that the condo assessment laws were put in place to give Trump a tax write off for a condo that bears his name in Westchester County. As blatant a lie as that is, the Post Standard has done a much better job than the shoe shine rag of covering the bidding scandals involving Cuomo’s staff and donors. The shoe shine rag quickly swept under the rug the latest sex games involving the legislative lollipop, Hoyt, the sex games involving Assemblyman Grabberass from Cheek and the former state senator who fired his chief of staff, allegedly over who was “partnering” with whom in the office. I could go on and on.

Would it bother you if it were stridently Republican?

**WNYresident** · May 30th, 2018, 11:05 PM

The Buffalo News lost their way from what the original owners believed what a news paper should be...

It will belong to neither political party, but will censure or approve the acts of either, as they may seem to warrant.

I wonder who wrote that.

October 11 1880 Buffalo NY Buffalo Evening News

**grump** · May 31st, 2018, 07:27 AM

Originally Posted by HipKat

Would it bother you if it were stridently Republican?

Media should factually report the news and leave the interpretation to the consumer of it. David Brinkley once wrote a book entitled “Everyone is entitled to my opinion”. That’s the height of arrogance in a news person. The latest trend is for newspeople to insert themselves into the story and make it about them. As I said, lyin’ Brian Williams is only the most comical and idiotic example. Actually, I guess this stuff is hardly a trend. I first remember it in an NBC news report during the 1977 blizzard. They had put a news crew in town to cover the blizzard and they were covering a bad fire on the west side and told of the firefighters dragging hoses through waist deep snow to find working hydrants. They reported how they courageously dropped their cameras to help move hoses and made themselves heros. On 9/11, in the midst of horrendous tragedy and loss of life we were regaled with stories of brave reporters who went on the air to cover the breaking news without their make-up! Just report the story and shut up about your opinions of it.

**grump** · May 31st, 2018, 07:48 AM

Originally Posted by WNYresident

The Buffalo News lost their way from what the original owners believed what a news paper should be...

I wonder who wrote that.

WNY, I’m sure if you asked the editorial staff of the shoe shine rag they’d swear that they still follow that blurb. Some people can convince them selves of anything.

**sharky** · May 31st, 2018, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by WNYresident

Why did you like Disqus versus facebook comments?

Disqus is used on more sites I comment on
it doesn't use my real name
it won't end up cluttering my FB news feed with stuff related to commenting on articles

**WNYresident** · May 31st, 2018, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by grump

WNY, I’m sure if you asked the editorial staff of the shoe shine rag they’d swear that they still follow that blurb. Some people can convince them selves of anything.

In the end having a real news paper operating in our area is good but times are changing. I like to "read" a paper more than reading off a phone or table. I think I purchase 2 or 3 Sunday papers in the last year or two. I used to buy the Sunday paper like clock work.

I wonder if a point will come where all the bees merge with the Buffalo News. This way there could be a cost savings over all and the Buffalo News has new local content.

**leftWNYbecauseofBS** · May 31st, 2018, 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by WNYresident

In the end having a real news paper operating in our area is good but times are changing. I like to "read" a paper more than reading off a phone or table. I think I purchase 2 or 3 Sunday papers in the last year or two. I used to buy the Sunday paper like clock work.

I wonder if a point will come where all the bees merge with the Buffalo News. This way there could be a cost savings over all and the Buffalo News has new local content.

I think mergers are the way to go. Mentioned it years ago but not with the Bee's.

I think if the BN, Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester), Post-Standard (Syracuse) and Times Union (Albany) were to merge you would have something. You could create efficiencies in covering National and State wide politics and supplement with local politics. You could create efficencies with sports as well. Build and maintain 1 platform for all of these sources cuts down on the costs there. Run editing for all out of one office...does the BN still have copy editors?

**WNYresident** · May 31st, 2018, 11:34 AM

**grump** · May 31st, 2018, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by leftWNYbecauseofBS

I think mergers are the way to go. Mentioned it years ago but not with the Bee's.

I think if the BN, Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester), Post-Standard (Syracuse) and Times Union (Albany) were to merge you would have something. You could create efficiencies in covering National and State wide politics and supplement with local politics. You could create efficencies with sports as well. Build and maintain 1 platform for all of these sources cuts down on the costs there. Run editing for all out of one office...does the BN still have copy editors?

Leftie, I don’t know what would become of the editorial stances if they merged. While each is decidedly pro-Democrat they do take different positions and devote differing amounts of coverage to stories. As I previously posted the Post Standard has been much more thorough in its coverage of the various scandals surrounding Cuomo’s bogus economic development schemes. The News has done the minimum and tries it best to cover as little about these stories as possible. The views of the TU are heavily pro-state even when a state policy is demonstrably bad for upstate. Also, the interests of different parts of the state aren’t in concert. It’s a big state with a lot of divergent interests. I don’t know how one could rationalize all of these under one cover. Besides, aren’t they all owned by different companies? I’m not sure anyone employs copy editors anymore.

**leftWNYbecauseofBS** · May 31st, 2018, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by grump

Leftie, I don’t know what would become of the editorial stances if they merged. While each is decidedly pro-Democrat they do take different positions and devote differing amounts of coverage to stories. As I previously posted the Post Standard has been much more thorough in its coverage of the various scandals surrounding Cuomo’s bogus economic development schemes. The News has done the minimum and tries it best to cover as little about these stories as possible. The views of the TU are heavily pro-state even when a state policy is demonstrably bad for upstate. Also, the interests of different parts of the state aren’t in concert. It’s a big state with a lot of divergent interests. I don’t know how one could rationalize all of these under one cover. Besides, aren’t they all owned by different companies? I’m not sure anyone employs copy editors anymore.

I think that could actually be an opportunity. The conflict.

Keep around some of each editorial boards and allow them to continue on their path. The difference is each area would gain syndication from others. So people used to reading just pro-downstate would not hear some upstate voices and vice versa. That would actually make the content compelling I think. Different than just local media.

They are all owned by different companies but each is circling the drain in their own way I assume. At some point, the value of the parts may be worth the risk of trying to assemble something different from the ruble.

**grump** · May 31st, 2018, 09:50 PM

Leftie, the Post Standard is down to home delivery only 3 days a week, it may be 4 but no more than that. The others are all struggling to some degree. If you’re gutting your sports staff in a sports crazy town I take that as a bad omen. Your idea is interesting but I just can’t see it working here. While we engage in self-congratulatory back patting and call ourselves the “city of good neighbors” because we push each other’s cars in snowstorms this is one of the most parochial areas in the country. I can’t imagine anyone here interested in others views of things. I could be wrong but I doubt it.

**grump** · May 31st, 2018, 10:25 PM

Bob DiCesare out as well? Anybody heard any other names? They gonna buy their sports stories from outside?

**HipKat** · May 31st, 2018, 11:08 PM

Originally Posted by WNYresident

So it's OK for political cartoons to make fun of Democrats, but tiring when they do it to Republicans?

**WNYresident** · June 1st, 2018, 12:04 AM

Originally Posted by HipKat

So it's OK for political cartoons to make fun of Democrats, but tiring when they do it to Republicans?

WHen it's 50/50 yeah.... or more realistic to the truth.

Like this example

He was referring to "illegal immigrants" not people who legally migrate to the states

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