Weds. Buffalo Rising/Buscarino Update: Curioser & Curioser
August 13, 2008
Like the layers of an onion, this BRO scandal just keeps going deeper. I’ve learned more about this paper (and editor Elena Buscarino) than most people should. My Source has been keeping me well in the loop and then some on a lot of the shady dealings that have been going on under the surface and behind closed doors at Buffalo Rising. So with the worst possible sense of discretion and zero regard for legal repercussions (since I know exactly what I can get away with and how far I can push the envelope), here is the new intel for those interested in reading it:
Oh, in answer to your question, “who’s George and Barry?” the answer is George Johnson and Barry Heneghan. George is the co-founder and creative director (at Buffalo Rising), and Barry is a new partner brought in last year. BR nearly failed and I think they found a guy to invest and “monetize” the site, so their solution, according to BuffaloGeek, was to create a phantom Buffalo Rising site that was linked up to Digg.com. On this not-so-positive version of Buffalo Rising, they posted bizarre and nasty stories from Buffalo that would get visitors through the Digg portal to view those tabloid stories. This artificial churning of clicks generated the bloated “visits” stats that they then turned around and used to get advertizers to jump in and to set ad rates that were higher than what they would have gotten had they limited their visits to the Elmwood Debating Society of thirty or so lost souls. Fraud? That’s such an ugly term.
A fellah (or newspaper or community web site) could cause a lot of damage with that kind of information. It’s a damned good thing I’m not mean spirited, right? Right?
Hey Tom,
Unfortunately this has been publicly known for about a year. I’m not sure how widely known this bullshit is. I could be wrong but, I think it was on the evening news. I can’t say I hate BRO as much as yourself. I do have distain for BRO, and I do understand where your coming from. They lack the certain journalistic integrity that they boast. I hit you blog everyday in search for some MUCK. Like may Americans i just can’t get enough.
Good Luck,
SC
Here it is being discussed on my site.
Thanks, Gentleman!
I didn’t really know much about BRO until I started writing for them and to be honest, never read about them. Digging that deep into their origins wasn’t on my radar until recently, so I had no idea about all of this. I promise to dish up plenty of muck as long as my source keeps feeding me good dirt! And I’ve really come to enjoy Buffalo Pundit. Keep up the great work! Take care,
Tom