To be honest, I wasn’t sure I really wanted to come to Buffalo.
In 1999, I knew I was ready for a new challenge after working at the newspaper in Binghamton for 12 years. I had applied to become the editorial page editor in Portland, Maine, but that went nowhere. So when I saw in a trade industry magazine that The Buffalo News was looking for an editorial writer, I applied. The job seemed good and I had friends and family in Toronto.
But there was a problem: I had to deal with a wave of “Oh-No-Not-Buffalo” fever. You know what I mean, because it was everywhere then, from late-night comics to my own acquaintances. “Why would you want to go to Buffalo? Rust Belt. Urban blight. And all that snow.”
It was actually fortune smiling on me. As I write this, I am wrapping up a newspaper career of 47-plus years, more than half of it spent working in Buffalo, a city I quickly learned to love. Here’s what I found in my first few months here: The knocks were accurate. Blight is obvious. It’s called the Rust Belt for a reason. And we all know about the winter weather. It was all true.
People are also reading…
It just wasn’t the whole truth.
I didn’t know about the beauty of Delaware Park or that Frederick Law Olmsted was its creator. I was ignorant of this city’s former wealth, still visible along streets like Delaware Avenue and the three gorgeous parkways that lead to the park. Most of all, I didn’t know how sturdy, kind and generous the people are in all parts of this city and region. I quickly learned. This is a special place.
I also didn’t know what a great newspaper I was about to join, staffed by professionals who knew their stuff and were focused on doing a good job for the readers who depended on them for information. My previous two jobs were with newspaper groups and, although The News was then part of Warren Buffet’s sprawling business empire, it was, for all intents and purposes, a stand-alone operation.
That was something different and, for about three weeks, more than a little puzzling. I kept wondering what it was about this place. There were reporters and editors and photographers and clerks, just like the others, but it wasn’t the same. Then it hit me: This is like working for a newspaper. Colleagues at my previous two newspapers were just as committed and just as diligent and those newsrooms were good places to work, but the vibe here was different. It was liberating. I’ve never forgotten that.
Now I’m retiring after almost 25 years here, the last six as editor of the editorial page. I didn’t come here intending to finish my career at The News, but I’m grateful that I did. It’s been one of the privileges of my life to work in this office with these colleagues and in this city. I owe thanks to too many people, so I’ll resist naming Jerry Goldberg and Mike Connelly and Margaret Sullivan and Warren Colville and about 100 other people.
A final thought. In these divisive times, there are people who would deny the existence of facts or standards. At least some of them hope to clear the way for whatever kind of misconduct they endorse. Among the primary targets of that misguided effort is the fact-based media or what critics like to call the “mainstream media.” Fine. I wear that designation with pride.
Yes, we make mistakes, but we’re the ones who are committed to correcting them. And, while no one can be perfectly objective, it’s our professional obligation to do the best we can. All the journalists I have known take that demand seriously. Newspapers build internal systems to backstop it. That’s not what you see in the non-fact-based media, and we all know who they are.
Editorial writing is a special part of newspapering. If there was a professional calling in my life, that was it. I’ve loved working here and I’ve tried to make a difference for the community that adopted me. I hope I’ve been able to do that.
Happy trails.