A black woman is steering the Buffalo daily. The city is still saddened by the racist supermarket massacre that shocked the city this year, as the economy and population have shown signs of recovery from decades of economic decline.
Sheila Rayam, 55, an executive at Gannett Newspapers, has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of The Buffalo News. Newspaper announced on tuesday. She is the first black journalist and second woman in the 142-year history of this treatise. The news was purchased in 2020 from Berkshire Hathaway of Warren Buffett, a longtime owner of Lee Enterprise.
“I went to college in Buffalo. I’ve always thought of this city as my second home,” Rayam said of the city of Western New York. The team, the snowfall record that grabs the headline, and, of course, its wings.
Rayam said he was excited to work in the veterans’ newsroom, which “has a reputation for good journalism.” Her appointment came into effect on August 22, after the retirement of veteran journalist Mike Connelly, who was the editor of The News for 10 years.
It was also a few months after the shootings on May 14 at Tops Friendly Markets, mainly in the Black district of East Buffalo. An 18-year-old white shooter in support of a white supremacist ideology was charged with shooting, killing 10 people and injuring three in one of the most deadly racist massacres in American history in recent years. ..
The attack upset the city.
“From a distance, I hurt my heart,” said Rayam, adding that the city was still healed. “But we hope it will be part of a discussion that will help the community grow together and grow stronger.”
Rayam said she plans to continue leading the treatise to cover the entire city in her new role as editor-in-chief. “We look at everything from food insecurity to public security and how residents support each other,” she said.
With about 56,000 prints, the news is one of the biggest news in states other than New York City, but like many other medium-sized local newspapers, it’s been struck by a pandemic, with reductions and staff.
The Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan, who was also the first top female editor of the news before his mission as a public editor of the New York Times, continued to monitor the news as an essential public service “dominant.” Journalism described as “power”.
“I was certainly excited to see Sheila’s appointment make history,” Sullivan said in an interview. “It’s good to see.”
In the announcement, Tom Wiley, president and publisher of The Buffalo News, said Rayam is proud to be the eighth editor to help guide the organization to an “exciting future.” rice field. Currently from Rochester, about 70 miles northeast of Buffalo, Rayam is Gannett’s editor-in-chief of Mohawk Valley News Operations, including Herkimer’s Utica Observer-Dispatch and The Times Telegram.
She also works at Democrat and Chronicles in Rochester and is a graduate of the State University of New York in Buffalo.
“We are most excited to work with journalists who are passionate about serving the community,” Rayam said. About telling a great story. “
And she said she was excited to get closer to Buffalo Bills. “I’m a big fan of Bills.”
