back to Niagara Falls Reporter archive
First off, I'm pleased to announce the addition of Margaret Coghlan as a contributing editor here at the Niagara Falls Reporter. Since they took John Carberry off the nightside to do who-knows-what on the day shift, Margaret has been the most competent high-ranking person outside the sports department to put the Niagara Gazette to bed at night and make sure you get a decent read in the morning, should you be one of the lucky few who actually has the paper delivered on time.
In an ironic twist, the classified ad run in the Gazette for Margaret's job asked for people who know the difference between "affect" and "effect." Margaret, seeking to use her sick time prior to being stripped of it on the last day of her employment, called in sick one night and--on the front page--the words were, of course, wrongly substituted.
Hi ho, Maggie, and welcome aboard. Believe me, folks, with Maggie gone, when a front-page article in the Gazette says, "continued on page 6," don't hold your breath.
At a party out at the Alps two Sundays ago, current and former Gazette staffers gathered to laugh at Lisa Johnson, Terry Shaw and others of the so called Gazette "Brain Trust" in a hearty manner.
When Gannett sold the Gazette to the Alabama-based Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.--CNHI, which people in the industry dismissively refer to as "chin-high"--the paper was valued at $16 million. There were locals willing to put up that amount, plus or minus $500,000 or so, but these hillbillies came up and offered $22 million. The debt service on the extra amount alone comes to an additional $480,000 a year, and that's one reason why the Gazette is running Lockport Zoning Board stories and North Tonawanda fire accounts while at the same time letting seasoned Niagara Falls reporters and editors go in droves.
They simply no longer have the money to pay good people.
At a super-secret meeting just two weeks ago at the North Tonawanda printing plant, where so many Falls jobs have been moved, GNN Group Editor Terry Shaw reportedly was asked by a typically naive employee, "Why are so many of our best people now working at the Niagara Falls Reporter?"
Terry, with his usual aplomb and people skills, reportedly told the crowd of newspaper people that he had fired the individuals who now no longer work for the Gazette.
Pulitzer-Prize winner John Hanchette, who has written for our paper, might take exception to this idiotic remark, as might Reporter contributing editors Jennifer Lewandowski, Maggie Coghlan, Sports Editor David Staba and so on.
But Terry crossed the line, as far as I'm concerned, when he further advised his employees--reportedly, at the same meeting--to stop hanging around popular Niagara Street press haunts such as the Arterial Lounge and Wilson Farms.
As it happens, Terry himself may be barred from ever again entering the Arterial. While he used to get cocktailed in the place quite often, recent developments have made him persona non grata, and perhaps he has given up drinking altogether.
Similarly, at the Press Box, owner Florence Acotto reports that, while Shaw used to indulge his ample belly two or three times a week on the excellent fish fry, delicious wings and the justly famous Pittsburgers, he has been a rare sight since around February of last year.
Acotto reportedly called Steve Braver to complain about his subordinate's comments.
A spokesman at Wilson Farms made no comment, other than to say sales of combination subs were down slightly.
As public figures, Shaw, his boss Braver and all the other head honchos at the Niagara-Lockport-Tonawanda Gazette should realize that their actions speak louder than the generally lame-ass words they print in the newspaper.
As public servants, they should realize that what they do has an impact on our community, and that impact shouldn't start and end with whether they can get a job at a bigger newspaper somewhere else up the CNHI chain.