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Thought a bit about Samantha’s Q. Would like to explain. My job as @TheBuffaloNews food editor is a public service that my employer has decided to invest in as part of its community coverage. Namely, an answer to that most human of questions: What’s to eat? https://twitter.com/snephew25/status/1345448472254828544
Because the @BuffaloGuild has done its best to see its members share in the business’ profits over the years, I make what I consider an excellent living. Beyond what most jobs offer these days, including a pension. I am grateful for the chance to find and extol the work of cooks.
I tell everyone I have the best job in Buffalo, because it is. Part of that is using social media to make journalism really retail. People want things. I help find them. For which my employer pays my salary, and an expense ledger I call The Buffalo News micro-stimulus program.
Besides all that, I get the pleasure to act as a sort of marketing agency, for hardworking cooks who can’t afford marketing agencies. Or $2,500 for a local website to do what I do for nothing, and throw in 100k-ish paper copies, though sometimes the photos do have to run B & W.
By doing my job well I can help businesses, jobs, and the sort of restaurants that make Buffalo, NY the sort of city you set getaway weekends in and debate reservations every night. Plus neighborhood places that make you wanna buy a house on the block. Or refugees a living.
Maybe I can help my city be a better place. Journalists are agents that communities hire to help them, and I’ve come to believe an effective food writer can do more for a town than scope out the new spot. I’m trying every day to expand that mission, which is where you come in.
I need you to ask for what you need. I’ll do my best to get it for you. Often the questions are how I learn about the gaps in my knowledge base. In times beyond counting, a stranger asking me a question leads to things that everyone should know about, ie BiscuitLife.
I need readers to remain an effective asset. The service piece aids that. Ask for a recipe, I’ll try to find it. Ask a chef to give up their recipe? Been there done that. Tracking down obscure ingredients on shelves in the 716? Cake. Who can roast me a pig Tuesday? Let’s talk.
Please help share in the cost of my job, so the community can benefit from it. (I plead guilty to this argument being self serving. It is no less true.) Maybe you don’t like everything we do. Everyone has a least favorite Skittle, but they buy the bag https://subscribe.buffalonews.com/e/offers-digital
If the cup of coffee a month is too much to throw into my tip cup, howzabout you buy the paper whenever you see something you like, the daily’s $2 and my review is Thursday. Or at least send me a note telling me everything I’m doing wrong. Rarely do I fail to learn something.
