Buffett, it transpired, viewed a monopoly franchise as the key to the success of the News. He denied intending to put the Courier-Express out of business, but as a federal judge was to observe, he was well aware of “the comparative weakness of the Courier…. Not lost upon him was the fact that the economic value of the Evening News to its owner, if it were located in a single newspaper community, would be greatly enhanced, as much as three times over.
One article, which described a jurist who was known as a martinet on the bench but a sweetheart in his family circle, was given an unfortunate but irresistible headline I remember vividly as: “Judge loses firmness when he doffs his robe.” The free giveaway would enable the News to offer advertisers a guaranteed audience that vastly outstripped the Courier-Express’ circulation — and this during the all-important holiday advertising season.
Brieant’s ruling felt like a life-giving transfusion. Turner bounded out of his office to deliver to the staff a dramatic reading of its most salient phrases. By then I had moved to The Times, but the demise of my first daily newspaper still stung. And so did the recognition that, although the Courier-Express was in the red when I left in 1978, the writing of its end appeared on the wall the day that Warren Buffett bought the News.