Jim Heaney

Jim Heaney is editor and executive director of Investigative Post. He was an investigative reporter with The Buffalo News from 1986 to 2011 and a reporter and editor with The Orlando Sentinel from 1980-86. His coverage over the years has focused on economic development, local and state government, politics, education, housing and transportation, and he was an early practitioner of computer-assisted reporting. Heaney has won more than 20 journalism awards and was a finalist for the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

May 7

2023

Monday Morning Read

Subscribe, for free, to WeeklyPost and you’ll not only get Jim Heaney’s recommended reading (below), but his summary of Investigative Post’s reporting for the previous week. For starters, here’s a thoughtful piece by Dick Tofel, a retired ProPublica executive, on what NPR and commercial television newsrooms are doing to fill some of the void being created by the demise of local daily newspapers. Tofel cites research that concluded neither are rising to the occasion. In other media news, Vice News appears headed for bankruptcy and Maureen Dowd of the New York Times laments the disappearance of traditional newspaper newsrooms. I’ve worked in two[...]

Posted 2 years ago

May 3

2023

Big shakeup at the besieged OTB

The embattled Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. is finally getting reformed. In a big way. The state public benefit corporation — mired in allegations of malfeasance and subject to multiple critical audits and investigations — saw its entire 17-member board of commissioners terminated Tuesday night, thanks to a budget provision sponsored by Sen. Tim Kennedy of Buffalo and Assembly Member Monica Wallace of Lancaster, both Democrats. New board members will be appointed and weighted voting instituted to reflect the population of the 15 counties and two cities that in-effect own OTB. That will shift control from mostly rural counties controlled[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 30

2023

Monday Morning Read

Subscribe to our WeeklyPost newsletter and you’ll get Jim Heaney’s recommended reading – and a whole lot more – in your inbox Sunday mornings. The deal to build the Titans a new stadium in Nashville (the current venue is only 24 years old) will involve a larger upfront taxpayer handout than the deal here in Buffalo. The daily paper down there has the details, The Buffalo News compares the deals and Neil deMause of Field of Schemes offers his analysis. He also reports on a new deal in Calgary to build a $1.2 billion arena for the NHL Flames. Meanwhile, The Toronto Star reported that the Ottawa Senators, a[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 23

2023

The Buffalo News was never a “crown jewel”

There’s more news to report regarding The Buffalo News – none of it encouraging. The Poynter Institute, a major news media think tank and training center, published a story last week that chronicled the decline of The News. The story is aptly headlined The Buffalo News was the crown jewel of Warren Buffett’s news empire. Now it’s just another Lee paper. Reporter Angela Fu did a good job of detailing all that’s gone wrong since Lee Enterprises bought the paper in 2020, starting with its loss of corporate independence. However, I think the story portrayed the paper in a better[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 17

2023

Monday Morning Read

Get WeeklyPost delivered straight to your inbox Sunday mornings by subscribing here. Is the bloodletting over at The Buffalo News? There are ominous signs from Montana, where Lee Enterprises has implemented cuts at five of its newspapers because of the chain’s downward financial spiral. If history holds, Lee will demand similar cuts at its other properties, including The News. Speaking of The News, music critic Jeff Miers has left the paper. That gives readers one less reason to buy the paper. Cuts have hurt The News across the board, none moreso than arts and entertainment coverage. There’s the previous departures of Jeff Simon and Colin Dabkowski and the gutting of[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 11

2023

Yet another Bills stadium disappointment

Last year, Investigative Post reported on community benefit agreements involving the construction of big league stadiums and arenas. CBAs involve teams and/or the developers of their venues pledging money for community projects in exchange for the tax dollars they receive to help finance their facilities. The process used here to negotiate a CBA for the Bills stadium was unusual. Instead of the Bills negotiating with members of the community, the bargaining was restricted to politicians and their staffs. Taking it a step further, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz insisted that negotiators sign non-disclosure agreements, which forbade not only any public[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 10

2023

Monday Morning Read

Subscribe to WeeklyPost and you’ll get the following post – and more – in you inbox Sunday mornings. Pat Garofalo of Boondoggle offers insight as to why local journalism is suffering. From New York Focus: Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing for changes that would allow for more greenhouse gas emissions while fossil fuel companies pull out the stops in an effort to derail her push towards electrification. Does the governor know if she’s coming or going? Opportunity Zones, the latest incarnation of enterprise zones, haven’t benefited the low-income neighborhoods they’re supposed to help, according to research rounded up by Reinvent Albany. Elon Musk Watch: Tesla is found[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Mar 27

2023

Monday Morning Read

Subscribe here and you’ll receive WeeklyPost in your inbox first thing Sunday. If you’ve ever wanted to dish on your former employer’s bad behavior to Investigative Post, but couldn’t because you signed a non-disparagement clause, the National Labor Relations Board has delivered good news. In guidance issued this week, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo said that any non-disparagement clause not “narrowly-tailored” will no longer hold up legally. Vice has a good breakdown here. In other words, our tip line is wide open. You can submit tips here, or via email at investigativepost@proton.me. Chrissy Casilio, aka CrissyCaBoom, said much of her right wing rants on[...]

Posted 2 years ago