The first eight months of 2018 have been a tumultuous time at The Buffalo News. A number of longtime bylines have either quit, taken a buyout, or been reassigned to new roles at the paper. The recent expansion of The Athletic into the Buffalo market has given the sports department its first serious competitor since the Courier-Express closed its doors in 1982, and that competitor arrives at a time when The News is struggling to create successful subscription-based content models of its own.
As the dust created by all this change has started to settle, Jay Skurski has emerged as one of the most valuable assets currently walking around One News Plaza.