Today's Herald cover: not protest-worthy

Published Jun 26 2009, 05:00 PM by Adam Reilly

Universal Hub reports that today's Boston Herald cover--featuring Michael Jackson's death, natch--has become the subject of in-person protest:

Just got word of a protest at 1 Herald Square at 4 over the Herald's "FADE TO BLACKO" cover today. Protesers say it was racist and offensive to Boston's black community: "Michael Jackson was an icon and should be respected!"

I don't get it. Obviously, "Fade to Blacko" is just a hybrid of "Jacko" and "Fade to Black," neither of which has anything to do with race. Plus, while the Herald's hed doesn't strike me as particularly disrespectful, Jackson's freakish personal proclivities pretty much guaranteed that, when he died, his death would be just as much a spectacle as his life.

Am I being too callous here?

Defending Wikipedia (and the NYT)--updated!

Times Co. memo blasts, contains bad info

8 Comments

Kenny Dillen said:

We are supporting Michael jackson by helping to build his foundation. We signed up at www.michaeljacksonfoundation.com or .org. We love you Mike- Rest in peace.

June 26, 2009 6:29 PM
Farnkoff said:

Shame on these members of Boston's black community for assuming that the term "Blacko" would have any racial connotations in a story about a famous black celebrity. Don't any of the protesters have a copy of the "Howie Carr Dictionary of Tabloid Slang and Monikers"? Sheesh.

June 26, 2009 9:10 PM
O-FISH-L said:

I would have gone with "King of Drop" myself, but that's just me. Adam, nice to see you take something other than the ultra-liberal side, for once. Are you applying to the Herald? WSJ?

June 26, 2009 10:16 PM
Adam said:

Farnkoff: "Jacko" doesn't involve race. (That was MJ's nickname, FYI.) Neither does "Fade to black." Neither does their combination.

Fish, good to have you commenting again. Did you catch my defense of the Herald against the racism charges leveled by Diane Patrick a while back? (No interest in the Herald, but if Rupe called, I'd be willing to chat--as long as it wasn't about that terrible op-ed page.)

June 26, 2009 10:53 PM
O-FISH-L said:

Adam, I didn't catch the defense of the Herald (kudos), but I do read this blog regularly, commenting sparsely. You're a little more "industry" than Media Nation and I'm not industry. I use the old Irish saying "seldom seen, much admired" on this page. On Dan's page it's the Irish, "too much of one thing is good for nothing."

Best regards,

O-FISH-L

June 26, 2009 11:07 PM
Farnkoff said:

Okay- I guess I just don't think that nickname caught on much among Jackson's fans, or is even that widely used outside the New York Post, the Herald, and maybe the National Enquirer. Nobody ever accused the Herald's editors of erring on the side of caution, so I guess it was a good enough pun to run with.

June 27, 2009 3:28 AM
aging cynic said:

The folks who protested the "racism" of the Herald ignored for years the apparent pedophilia of Mr. Jackson. Why would I care what they have to say about anything?

June 27, 2009 12:23 PM