Carl is 100% right, but it isn’t only Buffalo, it’s Rochester (my city), Syracuse, Binghamton and every city riddled with the socialists in charge, now including Albany and the Mayor’s Mansion…

January 18, 2011

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

For decades the Buffalo News has advocated policies that are against the best interests of the people of Western New York. In the last several months, they’ve gone completely off the rails.

When the News editorial page falsely blamed political rhetoric for the recent shooting spree in Arizona, Tom Bauerle of WBEN called for listeners to rethink their subscription to the paper. Tom and I don’t always agree, but he’s right: even in a one-newspaper town we cannot support a publication so out of touch with the people and the needs of our region.

The Buffalo area population is aging, our children are leaving, the family fabric is being ripped apart, our taxes are the highest in the nation, and our city schools are the worst in the State. The Buffalo News, with its progressive ideology, has anointed itself as the conscience of our crumbling community.

The people want jobs for their children and neighbors and lower taxes from governments serving only their citizens. The Buffalo News couldn’t care less.

The News breeds bad journalism to serve its elitist leadership who strive to control and denigrate the masses, especially the poor and disenfranchised. Their editorial page and insidious “news reporting” has routinely worked against the best interests of our region while promoting the interests of a select group of elite power brokers.

Our City schools are a train wreck and are primarily responsible for most of the social ills we suffer in Western New York. We push thousands of five-year old children into dysfunctional schools every year, and we know more than half of them will drop out and suffer a less than a fulfilling life. We are giving high school diplomas to kids who can’t read and write at fourth grade levels.

Despite this 50-year old problem, the Buffalo News backed the selection of an irresponsible and arrogant school superintendent who was fired from his previous job in Dayton, Ohio for incompetence and fiscal irresponsibility.

Today, Superintendent James Williams – who talks the paint off the wall with his rhetoric as he drives our schools down the same path of failure – and his dysfunctional school system are backed by the News and local power brokers. That is clearly racist and neglectful of our community.

Our waterfront, a ghost town for decades, lies vacant with a three-story, one-acre hole in the ground because News writers trashed the deal to develop the area responsibly with a top-notch retailer as the centerpiece. Remember when Mrs. Butler and the News trashed the domed football stadium project at the foot of Main Street many years ago? Today the football stadium sits in the Southtowns, miles from the City, adding muted benefit to the community at large. Déjà vu?

What if the Amherst University at Buffalo campus had been built downtown, like so many of us wanted? Imagine how vibrant our downtown would be today if the News had encouraged the right thing. Yes, we have seen this all before.

The Buffalo News acts with such impunity because it empowers them to control the body politic, project the elitist ideology of its spineless publisher and editors and intimidate benevolent private sector leadership.

When the News plied the New York State Thruway Authority to give the newspaper a sweetheart no-bid parking deal, they showed how they intimidate government. When Buffalo Place and its special tax district was formed, the News (then profiting $50 million annually) threatened to publicly oppose the formation if it were not given a special exclusion that would save them $30,000 a year. The area’s weak private sector leadership caved to News publisher Stan Lipsey.

Enough is enough. It is time for the Buffalo News’ ownership to change the insidious progressive leadership of the paper. The only way to force this change is through economics. If the local population stands together in protest and cancels their subscriptions to the newspaper for the month of February, the message will be clear.

The goal of this boycott is not to maliciously put the paper out of business. There are many fine people working at the paper and, yes, we need those jobs. Our goal is to send a loud and very clear message to owner Warren Buffet, that the services of the publisher and editors are no longer required. It is time for them to leave, and they take with them the insular columnists and reporters that spout the same elitist, progressive ideology.

We hope Mr. Buffet will retain the services of a new publisher and editors who are in concert with the collective moderate ideology of our people in Western New York.

Many of my friends and neighbors enjoy the News’ coupons, classifieds, sports coverage, food writing and more. For those readers, a temporary cancellation will be more comfortable. Call the Buffalo News Circulation Department at 842-1111 and cancel your subscription for the month of February 2011.

I truly believe Buffalo’s best days are ahead of us – but only if we all stand up for our city and the future of our families. This boycott of the destructive Buffalo News is a confident step in that direction.

Carl Paladino

PS: I’ve pasted below the Buffalo News’ crass and arrogant response to WBEN talk show host Tom Bauerle. Clearly, the newspaper’s leadership has lost respect for its readers. It is time for change, and you can help make that happen by canceling your Buffalo News subscription today. Please call the Buffalo News Circulation Department at 842-1111.

BUFFALO NEWS PUBLISHER’S RESPONSE TO TOM BAUERLE:

A local radio host got all screechy this week over a Buffalo News editorial lamenting right-wing hate speech and a News’ political cartoon unkind to Sarah Palin. So enraged — or just looking for a hot topic to liven his show — he urged listeners to cancel their Buffalo News subscriptions, and several dozen people did so.

But here’s where it gets weird: The radio station didn’t cancel its own Buffalo News subscriptions. Our records show that 16 copies of The Buffalo News will still arrive at the office at 500 Corporate Parkway Monday through Friday, same as always. Five copies will still arrive on Saturday, and five on Sunday.

Apparently, the radio station’s managers see value in the newspaper — especially as a guide for their own news department. They are not about to practice what their morning pundit preaches. And if they were to cancel The News in protest, they probably shouldn’t look at BuffaloNews.com either, to remain consistent, of course.

Hey, we believe in free speech, too. Rants over the airwaves can provide fine, fun entertainment that’s good for business. We also are proud of the fact we provide a service for our friends in radio. We value them as customers.

In fact, The News values all its customers, even those who recently left us. Should you ever want to come back, our arms are open. The radio station that urged you to drop us seems to think The Buffalo News is worth the money.