Interesting people and the death of newspapers

Loathing the Buffalo News is something I do for sport. The once-great paper, like its Niagara County counterparts the Gazette and Union, Sun & Journal is in a state of continual decline.

When something is worth reading in the Gazette, I count on Lori Jo Pellow to publish it on Facebook. If I need to see something sooner, I cut and paste the URL for the story into “12 foot ladder” or “remove paywall.” Both sites give unfettered access without a subscription.

I maintain an electronic subscription to the News and read the e-edition.

In the Gazette, you can catch typos and mistakes when Matt Winterhalter is on the desk at night budgeting pages and and slapping together copy without reading. His counterpart, Joyce Miles is better.

I don’t know who lays out the Buffalo News but at least once a week I get a headline like this B3 clunker Friday: “Candian offcials scramble as freight railroads strike.”

My most recent go-round with them over a subscription renewal was a game.

Here’s how it started:

“Our records show that your subscription has a past-due balance of $21.99 as of today, August 16, 2024. Your monthly subscription rate for your digital access only is $21.99.”

Here’s how I responded:

“That is still too expensive when I can't even get next day coverage of a 1 p.m. Bills game. There are many more cost-effective options for news in my community, especially Niagara Falls, which your paper no longer covers. Give me a reasonable deal or I will be happy with The Athletic, Investigative Post and the NY Times.”

“I completely understand your concern with the increased price. Your subscription is a great value with unlimited digital content that includes excellent editorial content, late breaking news, interactive games and puzzles updated 24/7! Did you know you can view the paper online from up to three different devices at the same time!

“You are a valued subscriber, and we want to continue informing you throughout the years. I can offer to reduce the rate to $16.99 a month. Simply reply back to this email and I will assist in altering your subscription and restarting the account. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.”

“Bottom line: How much is it going to cost me? Is there a senior discount? We are digital only” I said. A day later came this response:

“Our records show that your subscription has a past-due balance of $21.99 as of today, August 16, 2024. Your monthly subscription rate for your digital access only is $21.99. I understand that you want a senior rate discount. You are a valued subscriber, and we want to continue informing you throughout the years. I can offer a discounted rate of $9.99 a month.

“Please contact our Customer Care Center at 716-842-1111 in order to make a payment and get your subscription restarted.”

It took me 3 dumped phone calls over two days to get through to a live person to pay $136.21 for the next year.

As for the Gazette, we tried to go to Wine on Third for dinner but it was closed for a private party so we ended up on the patio at The Craft. Billy Olesiuk was congenial as always.

Wings at the Craft are up to $15.99 for 8. I gave Bill crap because he’s a ballbuster, always in a good natured way, the sort of jovial character that makes the world go round. He was quick with the comeback.

“We had to do that when they went to $160 a case,” he said. “We also cut the order size to 8 because most people leave 2 behind.”

20 orders in a 40-pound case makes $8 without sauce, a cook, a server, lights or a restaurant to serve them.

At the next table, was a table of Bills fans wearing matching 716 jerseys and chicken wing necklaces. Billy introduced us to Keita Nakagawa, a Japanese filmmaker and Bills super fan who was here to bring his daughter to her first Bills game.

Billy introduced us. I chatted a spot with Keita and his daughter and took some photos.

As we finished our meal, Rick Pfeiffer slogged out of the Gazette building across the street, shuffling his portly septuagenarian self to his Kia. He works a lot of Friday nights, the paper’s longest-standing editorial employee, slogging in a vacuum with an ever-shrinking audience.

I shouted across the street, “hey Rick!” He looked around, dead to the world.

“Rick!” He looked around again, dead to the world.

“Pfeiffer”

That time he looked up and waved. I gave him a double armed salute. He looked up and gave a tired wave before we watched him galumph to his car.

The Buffalo News and the Gazette are in precipitous decline. The Gazette has 10-years or less left, the News slightly more.

As for me, I’ll be over here, negotiating a cheaper News description, reading the Gazette for free, engaging with the community, telling Rick he needs to retire before 80 and supporting guys like Billy and Keita Nakagawa. If only someone from the newspaper across the street paid attention, care about Niagara Falls or looked over and saw a Japanese dude in a Bills jersey.