It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.[3] On January 29, 2020, the paper reported that it was being sold to Lee Enterprises.[4]
History
Buffalo Evening Newspaper boys in February 1910Logo in 2003
The Buffalo News was founded as a Sunday paper with the name The Buffalo Sunday Morning News in 1873 by Edward Hubert Butler, Sr..[5][6] On October 11, 1880,[7] it began publishing daily editions as well, and in 1914, it became an inversion of its original existence by publishing Monday to Saturday, with no publication on Sunday. During most of its life, the News was known as The Buffalo Evening News. A gentleman's agreement between the Evening News and the Buffalo Courier-Express meant that the Evening News would be evening-only, and the Courier-Express would be morning-only. Until 1977, the News did not publish on Sundays because of the agreement, and its weekend edition appeared on Saturday evening.
The Butler family owned the Evening News until 1974, when longtime owner and publisher Katherine Butler, granddaughter of the founder, died and left no heirs.[8] The Evening News properties were placed in a blind trust, which sold the Evening News to Berkshire Hathaway in 1977.[3] The new owners began publishing on Saturday and Sunday mornings.[6] After a period of financial decline, the Courier-Express published its last issue on September 19, 1982. The Evening News then shortened its name to The Buffalo News and became an all-day newspaper, publishing two editions seven days a week.
On October 1, 2006, the News announced it would abandon its evening edition later that month.
Buffalo News building (2011)
The Buffalo News had published three morning editions (Western New York, Final and Niagara) that appeared online at BuffaloNews.com, reaching over 400,000 readers, across eight counties each day. These separate editions were eliminated in 2018 and consolidated into a single Final edition, in response to a newsprint shortage.[9]
The News' Designated Market Area had the largest adult population in upstate New York. Counties in total circulation area: New York - Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Steuben, Wyoming; Pennsylvania - Cameron, Erie, McKean, Potter, Warren.[citation needed]
The newspaper founded and owned the WBEN television and radio stations, which are now WIVB (Channel 4), WBEN (930), WYRK (106.5) and WBKV (102.5), respectively. The radio stations are now owned by other companies, but in 2014, WIVB came back under partial co-ownership with the News when Buffett's Media General merged with the WIVB parent company, LIN Media.
The online version of The Buffalo News operates under a soft paywall allowing a limited number of page views per week. All Buffalo Bills-related content, branded as "BN Blitz", is behind a hard paywall.
On January 29, 2020, the News reported it was being sold along – with the rest of Berkshire Hathaway's newspaper portfolio – to Lee Enterprises, an Iowa-based owner of 50 newspapers that has had significant ties to Berkshire Hathaway since 2012 and had operated Berkshire Hathaway's newspapers since 2018.[4] In September 2024, ten jobs were eliminated from the newsroom which has an estimated 55 positions.[10]
In 1990, Tom Toles brought the News its second Editorial Cartooning award, for his work throughout the year (although his piece "First Amendment" has been cited as the work that merited the award).
In 2015, Adam Zyglis won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning for using, in the committee's citation, "strong images to connect with readers while conveying layers of meaning in few words".
News journalists have been finalists for four other Pulitzer Prizes, but did not win:
Toles (1985 and 1996, for Editorial Cartooning) and,
As of September 2022, New York State Historic Newspapers has 1881-1905 issues of the Buffalo Evening News online for free, full-text access, with more to come.
As of October 2022, Newspapers.com has 1881-2022 issues of the Buffalo News online on a paid subscription basis. Some public and academic libraries offer Newspapers.com to their users.
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