Sheila Rayam Is Named Executive Editor of The Buffalo News

A black woman is taking the helm of Buffalo's daily newspaper as the city grieves the racist supermarket massacre that shocked the city this year just as its economy and population showed signs of recovering from decades of economic decline.

The Buffalo News announced on Tuesday that it had named a new executive editor. She is the first black journalist in the paper's 142 year history. The News was bought by Lee Enterprises in 2020.

The city in Western New York is best known to the rest of the country for its N.F.L. team.

Ms. Rayam said that she was looking forward to working in a newsroom with a reputation for great journalism. She was appointed after the retirement of Mike Connelly, who was editor of The News for a decade.

The May 14 shooting at the Tops Friendly Market in East Buffalo came months after. In one of the worst racist massacres in recent American history, 10 people were killed and three were injured in a shooting by an 18-year-old white man.

The city has been devastated.

She said that the city was still healing. I am hopeful that we will be part of a discussion that will help the community grow.

Ms. Rayam said she would continue to lead the paper in its entirety. We are going to look at everything from public safety to how residents support one another.

The News, with a print circulation of about 56,000, is among the largest in the state outside of the New York City area, but like many other medium-sized regional papers, had to impose pay cuts due to the Pandemic.

Margaret Sullivan, the media columnist for The Washington Post, who was also The News's first top female editor before a stint as public editor of The New York Times, described The News as a "dominant force."

Ms. Sullivan said she was thrilled to see that her appointment would be a first. It's nice to see.

The president and publisher of The Buffalo News said he was proud that Ms. Rayam would be the eighth editor and that she would help lead the organization into an exciting future. Ms. Rayam, who is from Rochester, is the executive editor of the Mohawk Valley news operations.

She graduated from The State University of New York in Buffalo with a degree in journalism.

Ms. Rayam was looking forward to working with journalists who were passionate about serving their community.

She said she was looking forward to being near the Buffalo Bills. I like the Bills.