The Buffalo News
Encyclopedia
The Buffalo News is the primary newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 of the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area, and the area's only daily newspaper. It is the only newspaper owned by Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...

.

History

The News was founded in 1873 by Edward Hubert Butler, Sr.
Edward Hubert Butler, Sr.
Edward Hubert Butler, Sr., was the founder of the Buffalo Evening News.-Biography:He was born in 1850. He was the father of Edward Hubert Butler, Jr.. He married Mary Elizabeth Barber in 1871. He died on March 9, 1914.-References:...

 as a Sunday paper. In 1880, the News began publishing daily editions as well, and in 1914, became an inversion of its original existence by publishing Monday through Saturday only, 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
Buffalo Courier-Express
The Buffalo Courier-Express was a morning newspaper in Buffalo, New York. It ceased publication on September 1982.The Courier-Express was created in 1926 by a merger of the Buffalo Daily Courier and the Buffalo Morning Express. William James Conners, owner of the Buffalo Courier, brought the two...

meant that the Evening News would be just that, while the Courier-Express would be a morning-only paper. Until 1977, the News did not publish on Sundays, as per this agreement with the Courier, and its weekend edition appeared on Saturday evening.

In 1977, Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...

's Berkshire Hathaway purchased the Evening News, and began publishing on Saturday and Sunday mornings. After a period of financial decline, the Courier-Express published its last issue on September 19, 1982. That year, the Evening News shortened its name to The Buffalo News and until 2006, published morning and evening editions. On October 1, 2006, the News announced it would abandon its afternoon edition later that month, and publish only a morning issue. Now the newspaper has been profitable every year for the last ten years.

In 2009, Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, called his continued ownership of the newspaper "not totally rational", saying that the industry's practice of giving away its online content when charging for it in print has been a mistake.

Community role

The News participates in the Buffalo community and sponsors charitable, social, and educational events. The News also holds an annual Kids' Day newspaper sale in which civic groups sell the morning edition of the newspaper for double the usual price, with all proceeds directed to Buffalo's Children's Hospital.

The newspaper founded and formerly owned the WBEN television and radio stations, which are now WIVB (Channel 4), WBEN
WBEN (AM)
WBEN is an AM and FM radio station serving the Niagara, Buffalo and Western New York area, broadcasting on 930 AM and, as of April 5, 2011, simulcasting on sister station WLKK at 107.7 FM. It previously simulcasted between 1946 and 1960 on 102.5 FM as WBEN-FM. Both stations retained the WBEN...

 (930), WYRK
WYRK
WYRK is a country music formatted radio station located in Buffalo, New York. It broadcasts from the top of the Rand Building in Buffalo, where its studios are located on the 12th floor....

 (106.5) and WTSS
WTSS
-History:The station now known as WTSS actually began as early as 1934 as W8XH, an ultra-shortwave radio station operating as a sister outlet to The Buffalo Evening News and AM station WBEN and broadcasting at a wavelength of 5 meters , predating the country's first FM station by three years. The...

 (102.5), respectively.

Pulitzer Prizes

Journalists for The Buffalo News and The Buffalo Evening News have won three Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

s. In 1958, Bruce Shanks
Bruce Shanks
Bruce McKinley Shanks was the Buffalo Evening News editorial cartoonist, and won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning with his cartoon "The Thinker," published on August 10, 1957...

 received the Editorial Cartooning award for his August 10, 1957 piece, "The Thinker," detailing union corruption. In 1961, Edgar May received the Local Reporting award for his series, "Our Costly Dilemma," concerning the need for reform of New York State's welfare system. The series touched off debates about welfare reform
Welfare reform
Welfare reform refers to the process of reforming the framework of social security and welfare provisions, but what is considered reform is a matter of opinion. The term was used in the United States to support the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act...

 nationwide. In 1990, Tom Toles
Tom Toles
Thomas Gregory Toles is an American political cartoonist. He is the winner of the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning...

 brought the News its second Editorial Cartooning award, for his work throughout the year (although his piece "First Amendment" is often cited as the "exemplary" work that merited the award). (Toles currently serves as an editorial cartoonist with The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

, where he replaced Herblock
Herblock
Herbert Lawrence Block, commonly known as Herblock , was an American editorial cartoonist and author best known for his commentary on national domestic and foreign policy from a liberal perspective.-Career:...

.) News journalists have been finalists for three other Pulitzer Prizes, but did not win: Toles (1985 and 1996, for Editorial Cartooning) and James Heaney (1993, for Investigative Reporting). Other journalists who won awards include Richard J. Burke
Richard J. Burke
Richard J. Burke was an Irish-American journalist, poet and playwright. He was born in Buffalo, New York on October 9, 1915, the son of Joseph Raymond Burke and Josephine Catherine Keating...

a/k/a Dick Burke, who in 1972 won the New York State Associated Press Award for his series of articles about bicycling around Western New York.

External links

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