August 21, 2008
Yo, Kevin--As a Globe metro columnist, you've got one of the best jobs in Boston journalism. But you're supposed to write about Boston, not yourself. The next time someone points out that you made a factual error, just acknowledge it in a straightforward way. Don't waste 670 words explaining why it wasn't a big deal. (And yes, I'm lumping your proletarian UMass riff in with your screw-my-critics riff.)
Thanks,
Adam
August 19, 2008
Does urging both presidential candidates to reduce the threat from nuclear weapons constitute a "petty political attack"?
Apparently Northwest Airlines, the official carrier of the Republican National Convention, thinks so, since NWA recently asked Clear Channel to yank an anti-nukes ad that had been posted in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. (Clear Channel promptly complied.)
Grim stuff. A press release from the Union of Concerned Scientists, which had taken out the ad in question, follows; here's the write-up from the Star-Tribune.
NORTHWEST AIRLINES ASKS CLEAR CHANNEL TO PULL SCIENCE GROUP'S ANTI-NUCLEAR-WEAPONS AD IN MINNEAPOLIS AIRPORT
BILLBOARD CALLS FOR SEN. McCAIN TO 'GET SERIOUS' ABOUT REDUCING THE THREAT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
WASHINGTON (August 19, 2008) - Northwest, the official airline of the Republican National Convention, has taken on a new role of censor. Yesterday it asked Clear Channel Communications to remove a Union of Concerned Scientists' (UCS) anti-nuclear-weapons billboard in the Minneapolis airport because it is "scary" and "anti-McCain." Clear Channel agreed, and plans to take the billboard down today.
The billboard is one of two placed by the Union of Concerned Scientists at the Minneapolis and Denver airports to coincide with the Republican and Democratic conventions. The ads urge both parties' presidential candidates to address the threat of nuclear weapons. The Minneapolis billboard had been on display since August 13. The Denver billboard was posted last Friday.
The Minneapolis version features an image of downtown Minneapolis with target crosshairs superimposed on it. "When only one nuclear bomb could destroy a city like Minneapolis," the headline reads, "we don't need 6,000." The subhead states: "Senator McCain: It's time to get serious about reducing the nuclear threat." The Denver billboard features an image of that city and addresses the same statement to Sen. Barack Obama.
In an email exchange with Clear Channel, Northwest Airline officials complained that the billboard image is "scary" and "anti-McCain." In an email to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Tammy Lee, Northwest's vice president of corporate communications, said, "Out of an abundance of respect for both parties, we will not allow attack ads of either persuasion to be prominently displayed in our concourses. Our customers and employees complained and we responded. We will not be a party to petty political attacks on either side."
"Nuclear weapons are scary, and that's why we need to pay attention to them," said Elliott Negin, a UCS spokesman. "But to say that the billboard is anti-McCain is ludicrous. In fact, both McCain and Obama largely agree with us that we need to rid the world of nuclear weapons. These are not 'attack ads,' they are a strong reminder to both candidates that this is a very serious issue they need to address. Northwest Airlines is trying to censor free speech, and I don't think that's their role."
(For Sen. John McCain's position on nuclear weapons, go to www.johnmccain.com/involving/petition.aspx?guid=46fc9952-ebb3-49ea-bdc7-6537fee1399f; for Sen. Obama's position, go to http://www.barackobama.com/issues/foreignpolicy/#nuclear.)
The billboards are a part of a larger UCS media campaign that includes smaller versions in bars and restaurants around the convention sites. The group also bought Web ads on Minnesota and Colorado political blog sites. (For more on UCS's ad campaign, go to www.reducethethreat.org.)
"The Cold War ended nearly 20 years ago, but the United States and Russia still have many thousands of nuclear weapons, and each keeps more than a thousand on hair-trigger alert, ready to be launched within a matter of minutes," said Lisbeth Gronlund, a physicist and co-director of UCS's Global Security Program. "This creates a real risk of an accidental or unauthorized Russian launch against one, or more, American cities. We need a public debate about U.S. nuclear weapons policy, and that's why we launched our media campaign."
The UCS campaign builds on the organization's multiyear effort promoting a fundamental reassessment of the role, purpose and future of U.S. nuclear weapons. Earlier this year, UCS released "Toward True Security: Ten Steps the Next President Should Take to Transform U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy" and a scientists' statement on nuclear weapons signed by 21 Nobel laureates. In December 2007, the organization conducted a public opinion poll in South Carolina that found more than two-thirds of likely Republican and Democratic primary voters in that state want the United States to spearhead an international effort to reduce the number of nuclear weapons globally and believe that those reductions would make the United States safer.
August 18, 2008
That would be Deadspin founder and New York magazine contributing editor Will Leitch, who's also known as the guy Buzz Bissinger yelled at.
According to a press release from WEEI.com, Leitch "will be joining WEEI.com to provide an outsider’s look at Boston sports and its fans." Boston Sports Media Watch reports that Leitch's column will run twice a month.
Still more proof that the new, improved WEEI.com is a force to be reckoned with.
August 18, 2008
I'm talking about the print edition, FYI. Right now, I'm paying a special discounted rate of $15.52 per month--which came with a $10 Dunkin' Donuts gift card! But once that expires, the Globe's new price increase will put my monthly rate at a whopping $37 per month.
I've always preferred reading an actual newspaper to the online version, but the intensity of that preference has ebbed over the past few years. Nowadays, I'll end up reading the paper online--at least initially--if I'm feeling too lazy to go downstairs and get the printed copy.
Given a choice between paying $37 and $0 every month, I believe I could make that a regular habit. And I'm guessing I'm not the only one.
August 15, 2008
Ask yourself: If Barack Obama had criticized President Bush's handling of an international crisis and sent his own emissaries to the country in question--while John McCain, in contrast, offered muted commentary during a vacation in his home state--how would the political commentariat respond? Would we be marvelling at Obama's forcefulness and fluency? Or would we instead be nodding our heads and saying, "Yeah, he really is full of himself"?
August 14, 2008
Amalie Benjamin is taking over for Gordon Edes as the paper's Red Sox beat writer. Also, Tony Massarotti is jumping from the Herald for a new online-focused job. Plus, Boston.com gets a new sports reporter!
Here's the memo* sports editor Joe Sullivan sent this afternoon:
We have some very exciting changes to announce in the sports department.
Amalie Benjamin will succeed Gordon Edes as the Red Sox beat writer. As everyone can see, she's already on the job and ready for a pennant race.
Tony Massarotti will join the Globe from the Herald in the first week of September. Tony's job is a newly created position as he will become the face and voice of boston.com sports, featured prominently on the sports home page. Tony's insights and unique style will also appear in the print edition.
Chad Finn, a part-time copy editor on the sports desk, has been named to the newly created position of sports news reporter for boston.com. Chad, who will begin his duties the first week of September, will keep the website updated with fresh and interesting items during the day. The rest of the Globe staff will continue to contribute to the sports blogs on the site.
Corey Allen, a former all-star co-op in the sports department, will join the sports desk as a part-time copy editor, replacing Chad.
Wish them all good luck.
As a non-Sox fan, it's tough for me to judge the Benjamin hire. Any Sox-centric readers care to offer their thoughts on Benjamin's coverage?
P.S.--I should have offered a quick take on Massarotti. While I found his post-Tomasegate column baffling, I tend to like his stuff when I read it--and when I interviewed him for a sports bloggers v. MSM sports reporters piece a few weeks back, he struck me as a smart, thoughtful guy. As for Chad Finn, he's obviously landed himself a terrific job.
*NOTE: I originally omitted the beginning and end of Sullivan's memo because I didn't have them, but now the first and last grafs have been added. Let the record show that Sullivan is not a weirdly brusque email writer.
August 13, 2008
A couple days ago, I suggested that the Herald had been driving the "Clark Rockefeller" story more than the Globe. But I also reserved the right to weasel out of that assessment.
Let the weaseling commence. After hunkering down with a couple weeks worth of papers, I can say that the Herald did beat the Globe on a few key details of the story. But the Globe beat the Herald plenty, too--most notably on the connection between CR and the 1985 disappearance of Linda and John Sohus, which is the biggest, most intriguing part of this whole story.
For those who care about this sort of thing, here's a breakdown of who got what first. Dates reflect physical rather than online publication unless otherwise indicated.
What the Herald got first: CR's lack of a Social Security number (7/29); a denial of kinship from a legitimate Rockefeller (7/29); the fact that CR's marriage to Sandra Boss didn't yield a marriage certificate (7/30); Rockefeller's possession of $300,000 in gold bullion (7/30); the bogus nature of Rockefeller's alleged catamaran escape (7/30); those abusrd pictures of CR in "The Masque of the Golden Bull" (7/30); the name Christian Gerhart Stretier (8/6); CR's years as an irritating German exchange student (8/7); CR's 10th-grade report card (8/8).
The Herald also gets points for getting to CR's family in Germany first on August 8. But the Globe gets bigger points for posting its write-up of an interview with CR's family first online.
What the Globe got first: CR's status as a director of the Algonquin Club (7/28); CR's affinity for dressing all preppy and cruising around on a Segway (7/30); the name of the man who drove the abudction/getaway SUV (7/30); a full account of the getaway (8/1); the link to the Sohus killings (8/5); CR's use of a Nevada-based LLC to purchase his new home in Baltimore (8/5); CR's first marriage, to Amy Jersild of Wisconsin (8/8); CR's years as a shitty bond trader on Wall Street (8/8); a definitive link between CR and Christian Gerhartstreiter (8/8).
Back in July 2006, I took a look at the Globe and Herald's competition following the Big Dig tunnel collapse that killed Milena Del Valle. In that particular case, the Herald got the early jump, but couldn't keep up with the Globe as the story unfolded. That's not exactly how the Crockefeller story progressed--witness the Globe's early reporting on CR's getway and the Herald's late exchange-student coverage--but it's reasonably close.
Globe types, Herald types, readers in general: have I missed anything?
August 12, 2008
I didn't read this Globe op-ed on "linguistic paranoia" until yesterday evening. But when I did, my sympathy for the author's goal was pretty much negated by her deeply questionable reasoning.
Nataly Kelly--"a senior analyst with Common Sense Advisory, a market research firm specializing in business globalization"--thinks Americans should learn more languages. And in advancing her argument, she invokes the Founding Fathers:
Linguistic paranoia seems to have reached unprecedented levels in
recent years, a phenomenon that would probably shock our Founding
Fathers. After all, they intentionally decided not to declare an
official language for America, knowing full well that linguistic
dominance in the world is often in flux, and that doing so could
restrict the country's ability to both compete internationally and
respond to domestic needs [emph. added].
Usually, when people cite the FF's to make a point, they bolster their case with a quote or two. Kelly doesn't.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm guessing that this is because--when the Founding Fathers decision not to make English our official language--they weren't thinking about the ephemeral nature of linguistic dominance, international competitiveness, or domestic exigencies. Instead, they probably took it for granted that everybody in the U.S. would just speak English.
Am I missing something? If not, Kelly seems to be guilty of retroactively importing her own mindset into the FF's. Which is no way to make a completely legitimate point.
August 11, 2008
...Tonight at 8 pm on New England Cable News. We'll be discussing coverage of 1. John Edwards' affair and 2. "Clark Rockefeller."
Right now, I plan to say that the press as a whole was too slow to cover Edwards' dalliance. This isn't a private matter: for example, if Edwards' infidelity had become a major story at the beginning of the Democratic primaries, Hillary Clinton could be the nominee now rather than Barack Obama. So why the dearth of coverage? In no particular order, I'd cite sympathy for Elizabeth Edwards; distaste for the National Enquirer, which drove the story; and a general reluctance to chase scoops from other media outlets, tabloid or no.
Meanwhile, I have zero sympathy for the scolds who think the "Clark Rockefeller" story has received too much attention. Good God, people! This is an incredible tale, a real-life Talented Mr. Ripley in which Boston plays a starring role. If it's too tawdry for your taste, spend some time at one of the zillion other news outlets available on the Web until this saga simmers down.
Also, my preliminary research suggests that the Herald has been driving the "Rockefeller" coverage more than the Globe. But I may amend that judgment by this evening.
Readers, what say you?
UPDATE! I won't be talking about "Clark Rockefeller" tonight, but his attorney will. That said, in the wake of some bracing pushback from a Globie--"utterly off the wall" were the words used--I'll be posting tomorrow on the Herald and Globe's respective victories on that story.
August 07, 2008
In which I argue that Kevin Cullen shouldn't second-guess his decision to write about Rakan Hassan.
August 05, 2008
I've just now seen this clip of David Gergen referring to the racial subtext of the GOP's Obama-as-narcissist shtick, and all I can say is: kudos to Gergen for bluntly pointing out the racial subtext of these attacks.
If any conservatives read my piece in this week's Phoenix, in which I make much the same argument, they may have dismissed this point as the carping of a liberal partisan. But Gergen's observations should make it clear that it's anything but--and that McCain, not Obama, is the one who's injected race into the presidential campaign.
July 31, 2008
My contention: the Barack Obama-as-narcissist theme, which has been all over the press of late, is stale, logically shaky--and comes with a strong racial subtext.
Something to consider, especially since John McCain is now accusing Obama of playing the race card.
July 30, 2008
A strong case can be made for today's effort. First, there's the "Crockefeller" headline, which is just perfect. Then there's the main image. At first, it seems attention-grabbing but somewhat random. Then, though, you read the caption and understand: here's an actual photo of "Clark Rockefeller" acting--which he's been doing his entire life.
Throw in the "Kerry and the Cuties" plug, and the Herald has itself a real doozy. Kudos.
July 29, 2008
It looks that way. Last year, when Barack Obama proposed attacking Al Qaeda targets in Pakistan without Pakistani permission, the president cited that suggestion as proof of Obama's poor judgement. So did John McCain.
Fast
forward one year. On Monday, a U.S. missile strike in South
Waziristan--which apparently killed a prominent Al Qaeda target--seems
to have been executed without Pakistan's approval.
No word yet on whether McCain's changed his mind as well.
July 28, 2008
Granted, my look at coverage of Jim Marzilli and mental illness in general is no longer "hot off the presses." But it was fairly recently! So please: take a look if you haven't already.