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.

Feb 14

2023

More bad news regarding The Buffalo News

The downward spiral at The Buffalo News appears to be gaining speed. Last week I reported the departure of four veteran reporters and editors and the pending outsourcing of work performed by the newsroom’s five-person design team. That reduces the newsroom staff to some 65 journalists, down from more than 200 back in the day. The News has since asked the remaining staff to accept a two-week, unpaid furlough. The paper’s managers and other nonunion employees have no choice. The company must negotiate the furloughs with its unions, including the Buffalo Newspaper Guild, which represents what’s left of the newsroom[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 12

2023

Monday Morning Read

Get Jim Heaney’s recommended readings, and a recap of Investigative Post’s reporting for the previous week, via email on Sunday mornings by subscribing here. WGRZ anchor, and in this case, muckraker, Maryalice Demler reported on dirty dealings behind closed doors by the North Tonawanda City Council. Sweetheart waterfront leases, negotiated on the q.t., to benefit political insiders. By now you’ve probably read about Kim Pegula’s health issues. Her daughter Jessica wrote a moving first-hand account for The Players’ Tribune. It’s becoming apparent Kim will not be able to carry on once her much-older husband is no longer in the picture and, as I previously[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 5

2023

The Buffalo News is hemorrhaging journalists

When Warren Buffett sold The Buffalo News, employees took solace in the fact the new owners could have been worse. I did, too. At least it wasn’t Alden Global Capital, the Darth Vader of newspaper chains. Nearly three years into the new regime, it’s becoming apparent that it might as well have been Alden, as Lee Enterprises is following the same playbook. Cut the staff. Sell off the real estate. Strip the business of what other assets can be liquidated. Last week, four newsroom employees, with a collective 140 years of experience, “retired.” It was that or see less-tenured colleagues[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 5

2023

Monday Morning Read

Each Sunday, Jim Heaney summarizes the reporting of Investigative Post from the previous week and recommends other stories to read – along with his commentary. The email newsletter is free. Subscribe here. When officials announced a couple of weeks ago the framework of a community benefits agreement for the new Bills stadium, I asked Geoff Kelly to analyze the deal. He poked around, found nothing had been committed to a public document, and said it was premature to draw any conclusions. That didn’t stop Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz from praising the CBA and for The Buffalo News editorial board from[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 31

2023

Heaney discusses Tesla on ‘Pressroom

Jim Heaney spoke this week with David Lombardo on The Capital Pressroom about Investigative Post’s recent reporting on the Tesla plant in South Buffalo and tax subsidies issued to fast-food restaurants in Niagara Falls. Both stories were reported by J. Dale Shoemaker. The Tesla story documented the failure of that $1 billion project to live up to its potential. Dale’s IDA reporting has prompted legislation intended to address what critics say is an abuse of the IDA law. Capitol Pressroom is broadcast weekdays on about 20 NPR stations across upstate. It airs on WBFO at 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 29

2023

Monday Morning Read

You can read Jim Heaney’s recommended reading on Monday morning. Or Sunday morning, along with a wrap-up of Investigative Post’s reporting of the previous week, if you subscribe to WeeklyPost. Common Council President Darius Pridgen is not seeking re-election next year. In my dealing with Pridgen over the years I found him to be smart, charismatic and street savvy. Unfortunately, the Council under his leadership has been a rubber stamp for Byron Brown. His approach has been to go-along to get-along with the mayor. The city needs an independent and vigilant Council. Brown gathered people Friday to express their horror over the beating[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 22

2023

Monday Morning Read

Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter here and you’ll get my recommended reading in your inbox Sunday mornings. It turns out that the City of Buffalo stopped fluoridating its water in 2015, according to a report by Charlie Specht in The Buffalo News. Pretty outrageous. Then again, the administration of Mayor Byron Brown has been bad news for public health for a long time. It dragged its feet on addressing lead poisoning. Tolerates the death of civilians at the hands of police. Didn’t do squat about pollution from the Peace Bridge. Has been cutting down climate-soothing trees without sufficiently replacing them,[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 16

2023

Bills new stadium lease is not ironclad

Investing $850 million of public funds in a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills is a heavy lift for taxpayers. The elected officials who negotiated those terms have offered us the solace that it keeps the team here for at least another 30 years. It’s an ironclad lease, they’ve assured us. But it’s not. And the state of the team’s ownership – Terry Pegula, in his 70s, and his wife Kim, dealing with serious health issues that keep her away from the team – only heighten concerns about the team’s long-term prospects in Western New York. The memorandum of understanding[...]

Posted 2 years ago