Western New York Catholic to become a digital publication

The Western New York Catholic newspaper has brought the news of the Diocese of Buffalo into the homes of the faithful for over 150 years. In 1871, the Catholic Union and Times began publication under Buffalo’s second bishop, Stephen Ryan, CM. The paper changed its name in 1964 to the Magnificat and then became the Western New York Catholic in 1981. During that time the stories and news of the Catholic faithful filled the pages.

In 2018, the Western New York Catholic received the honor of top Catholic publication in North America from the Catholic Press Association. The staff at the WNYC is dedicated to bringing the same award-winning coverage of Catholic life; news, features, personality profiles and inspiring photography that our loyal readership have come to expect, but delivered more conveniently. On tablets, desktop and laptop computers, and phones.

The new change will take place in September 2020, when the Western New York Catholic will cease being printed in its current physical form. The stories and the images of life in the eight-county diocese will still be told, but they will reside on the newspaper’s website, wnycatholic.org

The decision to stop publication was made several months ago, before the diocesan restructuring or the COVID-19 crisis. With people choosing to get their news online and the decline in print advertising the move to cancel the publication will save the diocese around $130,000 a year in printing costs.

Over the summer the staff of the Office of Communications will be developing a refreshing new look for the Western New York Catholic and will produce a publication biweekly that can be downloaded and printed. Pastors and parish administrators can print the issue for those in their community who do not have access to the internet.

A strategy for online advertising is being developed and will be rolled out before July. Subscribers of the print publication will be given an opportunity to signup for email notifications when new content is made available.