"It" being my look at how the Ché groupies, black-flag-wavers, and spoken-word artists--and not the media, dammit--keep giving the antiwar movement a bad name.

Also, Harvey Silverglate and I examine a new lawsuit by ex-NY Post gossiper Jared Paul Stern that could derail Hillary Clinton's presidential hopes.

3/29/2007 12:59:05 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [2] |  

Earlier today, I asked a Time spokesperson why the U.S. edition of Time featured a cover story about teaching the Bible, rather than the "Talibanistan" piece that fronted the Europe, Asia, and South Pacific editions. Here's what I was told:

TIME's international editions (TIME Asia, TIME Europe, etc) are produced regionally and regularly run cover stories that differ from the U.S. edition and from each other. Each week, TIME editors make decisions on what cover stories will be of greatest interest to readers in each region.

While I'd hoped for something a little meatier, I still feel obligated to come to Time's defense here. Over at Blue Mass. Group, Bob offered this gloss on the U.S. cover: "Much of what you need to know about U.S. and our MSM is captured perfectly today at Time's website.... This is a big part of the reason why we live in a bubble in this country."

Yes, it would have been nice if Time's US readers were confronted with the Talibanistan cover. But let's also remember that Time broke the story of the Haditha massacre one year ago--exactly the kind of story we need written these days.

3/28/2007 1:32:32 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

Generally, Bob is the member of Blue Mass. Group I'm least likely to agree with. But in noting Time's duelling covers this week, he did us all a favor. Consider and comment:

3/27/2007 4:28:32 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

Take a look quickly, because this won't be up for long.

In case it's deleted by the time you try, here's the job description for Reporter-The Boston Globe that was posted over at Boston.com on March 23:

Job Description: Need a crackerjack journalist to work in our world-class newsroom. You'll be replacing Pulitzer-winning reporters, columnists and others with decades of experience. Join us today in the joyless pursuit of excellenece.

Requirements: Work hard, work fast, work cheap. New York experience is useful.

I think that qualifies as gallows humor.

3/24/2007 3:36:56 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

Politico reporter Ben Smith is taking a real beating for erroneously reporting that John Edwards was going to suspend his presidential campaign earlier today--even though he's acknowledged and apologized for his mistake. Here's a taste of anti-Smith commentary:

Good journalists don't make the kind of mistake that you did today. It isn't about Edwards - it is about you getting the story right. Your credibility has taken a serious hit, and you deserve it.

Easy, now. Yeah, Smith made a mistake based on information given him by one anonymous source, whom Smith still (commendably) refuses to name. But Smith didn't misrepresent the nature of his information in the original post at all. Here's what he wrote:

John Edwards is suspending his campaign for President, and may drop out completely, because his wife has suffered a recurrence of the cancer that sickened her in 2004, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, an Edwards friend told The Politico.

In light of that description, readers were free to draw their own conclusions. Maybe the "friend" simply had bad info; maybe he/she had good info at one point, but then Edwards changed his mind. It doesn't really matter. Smith was forthcoming about the kind of tip he'd been given.

Several of Smith's critics also argue that he should simply have waited until Edwards' official announcement to write about any change in his campaign's status. The point they miss is that Smith was blogging here, not writing an article. Smith almost certainly would have sourced more extensively if he'd been doing the latter.

Anyone who gets their information from blogs should realize there's a trade-off at work: you get your information more quickly and more snappily (usually), but in a less refined state. If you don't like it, you can wait for the nightly news or the morning's papers.

3/22/2007 2:56:44 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [3] |  

The press still gets guff for its pre-Iraq War credulity. Is it time to lay off, already?

3/22/2007 10:41:01 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

Globe metro columnist Eileen McNamara--who won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1997--has received one of the paper's much-sought-after buyouts and will leave Morrissey Boulevard April 1, Media Log has learned. Next up: a full-time gig teaching journalism at Brandeis University, where she's currently an adjunct instructor.

“I’ve had the best job in Boston for the last 12 years--I know that,” McNamara said this afternoon. “It is a fantastic job, but it comes with its own stresses that I think eventually catch up with you…. I spent a lot of time in heartwrenching situations, and I guess it’s time to let somebody else take a shot.” (One example: her March 18 column on two domestic-violence murders that occurred 27 years apart.)

To understand why this is a major loss for the paper, look at McNamara’s March 14 column on the New Bedford immigration raid, in which grilling by McNamara actually prompted Nancy Fernandez Mills, the communications director for Gov. Deval Patrick, to utter these words: "I'd like to retract that statement until I talk to someone who actually knows something about this timeline." Or read McNamara’s critical assessment of the late South Boston city councilor Jimmy Kelly, which was a welcome corrective at a time when Kelly’s fans were having the loudest say.

“I didn’t come to this easily,” McNamara added. “I’ve had a great career at the Globe. I was in the Washington Bureau; I covered the famine in Ethiopia. And it is not easy to walk away from the newspaper business. If I didn’t love teaching as much as I do, I wouldn't do it and I couldn’t do it.”

Joan Vennochi, McNamara's longtime colleague, had this to say about her exit:

"As her friend, I am happy that she is leaving the Globe to do something she loves. I am sad for the Globe and its readers. Her voice is unique and she is fearless. She stands up to the powerbrokers. She speaks up passionately for the underdogs. She never accepts conventional wisdom.  She does what journalists are supposed to do:  afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. This newspaper will not be the same without her."

3/21/2007 1:56:31 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [4] |  

When the Globe's latest voluntary buyout program was announced in January, the goal was getting 17 newsroom and 2 editorial-page employees to sign on. But following yesterday's deadline, several sources tell Media Log that demand has seriously outpaced supply. I'm hearing that well over 30 newsroom/ed page employees have said they'd like to take buyouts.

Obviously, this means there won't be enough to go around. Now editor Marty Baron has to figure out how to make the numbers work, either by convincing people to stay or by telling them a buyout's no longer an option.

So who's going? I'm told that assistant metro editor Steve Kurkjian and reporters Francie Latour, Peter Howe, Ric Kahn, and Charles Radin have all requested buyouts. Restaurant critics Alison Arnett is also reportedly eying an exit, as are Robert Turner, deputy managing editor for the editorial pages, and deputy managing editor Michael Larkin.

I'd also heard that business columnist Steve Bailey would be leaving, but Bailey tells me he's not going anywhere. Whether the initial rumor of his departure was unfounded or Baron convinced him to stay put, that's good news for the paper.

Stay tuned. Meanwhile, here's how the Globe buyouts will work: departing employees get three weeks of pay for every year of service--up to but not exceeding the equivalent of two years' salary--plus a resignation bonus.

UPDATE: Here's the New York Observer's discussion of the buyouts.

3/20/2007 4:24:43 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

This week, the Weekly Dig turned its editor's note over to former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn. Flynn used the opportunity to offer musings from New York City, where he'll be grand poo-bah at the upcoming St. Patrick's Day parade:

These New Yorkers are something. First they elect me Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade—only the third non-New Yorker since 1762. The other two were far more distinguished and well-known than me. One was the beautiful and talented Academy Award-winning Irish-American actress Maureen O’Hara. The other was the prime minister of Ireland, Albert Reynolds. Heck, I only got elected mayor of Boston, and the only screen time I had was a bit-part cameo on Cheers.

Even that role was an embarrassment. While presenting an official city proclamation to Sam Malone for his many years in the Boston bar business, halfway through the speech, a woman goes into labor and Dr. Frasier Crane screams at me, “Don’t just stand there talking! Do something! You’re the mayor!”

For the parade, I have to dress up in tails and a tall silk hat. Do they rent these things in Boston? Where would I go—Filene’s Basement?

Peter Lucas of the Globe and Herald wrote a story about me one time saying that he covered me in politics for 10 years and can prove that I only owned two suits. Peter was indeed correct, but the people don’t have a right to know everything.

Now, just the other day, I received a call from the American Stock Exchange. I don’t know anybody there, so I assumed they were trying to get me to buy some stock in Friendly’s or iParty. No, they want me to ring the opening bell on March 16 to honor St. Patrick’s Day on Wall Street.

I even received an invitation from Cardinal Egan to sit in the first row of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in front of Governor Eliot Spitzer, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and even Senator Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton on St. Patrick’s Day.

I said to my wife, Kathy, that I’ll be glad to get home to Boston where everybody ignores me.

Sound familiar? If so, it's probably because you read today's Boston Herald, which features the same column by Flynn atop the Opinion page. Here's the Herald's version; differences w/ the Dig's (other than punctuation) are in bold:

These New Yorkers are something. First they elect me Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade - only the third non-New Yorker since 1762. The other two were far more distinguished and better known than I am. One was the beautiful and talented Academy Award-winning Irish-American actresss Maureen O’Hara, who starred in “The Quiet Man” with John Wayne. The other was the prime minister of Ireland, Albert Reynolds. Heck, I only got elected mayor of Boston and the only screen time I had was a [WD: "bit-part"] cameo appearance on “Cheers.”

Even that role was an embarrassment. While presenting an official city proclamation to Sam “Mayday” Malone (Ted Danson) for his many years in the Boston bar business, halfway through the speech a women went [WD: goes] into labor and Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) screams at me, “Don’t just stand there talking! Do something! You’re the mayor!”

For Saturday’s parade I have to dress up in tails and a tall silk hat. Do they rent these things in Boston? Where would I go, Filene’s Basement?

A former Boston columnist, Peter Lucas, [WD: begins sentence, "Peter Lucas of the Globe and Herald] once wrote a story about me, saying that he covered me in politics for 10 years and he [WD: omits "he"] can prove that I only owned two suits. Peter was indeed correct, but the people don’t have a right to know everything.

Now just the other day I received a call from the American Stock Exchange. I don’t know anybody there, so I assumed they were trying to get me to buy some stock in Friendly’s or iParty. No, they want me to ring the opening bell today [WD: on March 16] to honor St. Patrick’s Day on Wall Street.

I even received an invitation from Cardinal Egan to sit in the front row in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in front of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and even Sen. Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton on St. Patrick’s Day.

I said to my wife Kathy that I’ll be glad to get home to Boston where everybody ignores me.

Two obvious conclusions: one, the Herald's copy desk is more exacting than the Dig's. And two, the Herald should cancel Flynn's freelancer check ASAP.

3/16/2007 2:03:02 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

Shame on me for not noticing this earlier, but Wednesday, March 14 was a milestone of sorts: for the first time, the Globe published a story from the New York Times News Service--"Settled W. Bank lands private," by Steven Erlanger. The New York Times Co. purchased the Globe in 1993, so it's been a long time coming.

Meanwhile, today's Globe boasts two NYTNS stories: "Giuliani law firm has ties to Chavez," on A6, and "Clinton would keep some US troops in Iraq," on A7. (FYI, it also features pick-ups from the Baltimore Sun, the Washington Post, the LA Times, Bloomberg News, AP, and Reuters.)

"[The Times] is a really fine newspaper, and they do some fine journalism," Globe editor Marty Baron tells Media Log. "So we're likely to use the stories that represent especially strong enterprise and scoops--particularly anything that we're unlikely to find from the other wire services we have."

3/15/2007 3:35:28 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

If you've ever worked in the media, you know that we loathe to admit it when people beat us to a story. Here's why that needs to change.

Also: everything you need to know about the new Romney biography in less than 500 words!

3/15/2007 8:26:46 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

Quick--before Marty Meehan's appointment as UMass-Lowell chancellor becomes old news, can anyone find another university chancellor with a resume as light on academic experience as the congressman's?

If so, let us all know. FYI, you can forget about the chancellors of North Carolina, Wisconsin, UCLA, Illinois, and the University of Texas system. Ditto for the chancellors at lesser institutions like the University of Michigan-Dearborn and the California Community Colleges. They've all got more impressive higher-ed backgrounds than Meehan.

But this is Massachusetts, and we do things a bit differently here.

3/14/2007 1:53:01 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [5] |  

Is it too harsh to call today's A1, above-the-fold story on Congressman Marty Meehan a puff piece?

Yesterday, of course, Meehan landed the chancellor's job UMass-Lowell, his alma mater. Here's the Globe's lede:

In a potential watershed moment for a struggling region, US Representative Martin T. Meehan was chosen yesterday to become the next chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, buoying local officials who believe the high-profile Democrat can revitalize the small campus and the Merrimack Valley with his political and fund-raising skills.

Not just the campus, mind you--the entire region.

The Globe's article does name the two other finalists for the job: David Chang, chancellor of Brooklyn's Polytechnic University, and Nabil Ibrahim, vice chancellor of academic affairs at Purdue University's Calumet, Indiana campus. But it doesn't tell us anything about what Chang and Ibrahim might have brought to the job. And it allows the obvious problem with Meehan's appointment--i.e., his lack of academic experience--to be voiced by a UMass-Lowell professor, Julie Chen, who promptly dismisses it.

Meanwhile, the Globe op-ed page nods briefly at Meehan's dearth of academic credentials but still fawns over his appointment: "Much will be expected of Martin Meehan when he takes office as chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. It is likely that no one will demand more than Meehan himself."

Thank goodness for the Herald, which tells us more about Chang and Ibrahim in a p. 6 story titled "Rejected finalists top academics: resumes both thick." Here's the important stuff:

Chang, 64, holds two Harvard degrees, is a former dean of Arizona State University’s engineering school and helmed a successful four-year, $275 million fund-raising drive that resulted in new dorms and facilities at Polytechnic University, the largest technical college in New York.
An education adviser to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he was named one of 21 “New Yorkers to Watch in the 21st Century” by the New York Daily News in 2000.
Ibrahim’s resume is equally sterling. He is a former associate vice president at San Jose State University and served for 12 years as an administrator and professor at Bradley University in Illinois.
“He’s very results-oriented and very high-energy,” Purdue spokesman Wes Lukoshus said of Ibrahim. “He’s a real go-getter.”

Maybe Meehan will prove to be an inspired pick. But as someone who's lived in two states (Minnesota and Michigan) that highly value their state university systems, Massachusetts' continued willingness to hand the public-education reins to politicians strikes me as bizarre.

3/14/2007 10:22:47 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

The Herald's Jesse Noyes has the backstory on the Globe-union ad the paper refused to run today, but can't get Globe spokesman Al Larkin to say which part(s) of the ad were deemed "not factual."

I'll hazard some guesses--but first, take a look at the ad in question.

Now, here's what jumps out at me.

--"The New York Times Co....has made the egregious mistake of choosing to outsource the work of Globe advertising and circulation employees to Bangalore, India." The Times Co. obviously doesn't think the decision to outsource is an "egregious mistake."

--"By outsourcing our work, The Boston Globe & New York Times Co. are sending a message that they no longer care enough to retain the very best people to handle customer accounts and client relationships." Again, the Globe and Times Co. brass would probably argue that that's not the message that they're sending.

--"Further, billing and account information will now be shipped overseas to Bangalore, India, putting customers’ most vital information at risk." The equation here is simple: India=dangerous. (OK, it could also be Bangalore=dangerous.) While you can make an ethical argument against outsourcing in general and the Globe's outsourcing in particular, the India=dangerous claim ignores the fact that everyone is outsourcing to India these days.

I'm not unsympathetic to the Boston Newspaper Guild's fight here, but I'd say the Globe was well within its rights to reject the ad in question.

3/13/2007 4:16:13 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

Media Log hears tell that NECN's Alison King is currently preparing a documentary on Governor Deval Patrick's first hundred days in office.



My question for you: as of today, what should the title be? (No inappropriate answers, please.)

3/9/2007 3:20:48 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [8] |  

Early congrats to Morrissey Boulevard. According to a leaked list of Pulitzer finalists published today by Jim Romenesko, the Globe has two finalists in this year's competition: Charlie Savage's story on presidential signing statements, in the national reporting category, and the Spotlight Team's Debtor's Hell series,  (You can find all the finalists here.)

Kudos.

3/8/2007 3:16:19 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

And it's all just one click away!

3/8/2007 10:29:01 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

Sports fan or no, Cold, Hard Football Facts' wrap-up of how the Ron Borges story played out is worth a read. Granted, it's a tad self-congratulatory--but  why not?

Lesson #1: news travels really, really quickly these days, what with the Internet and everything. Lesson #2: don't cut and paste someone else's material into your column, whatever your disclaimer says.

3/6/2007 10:10:47 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

Here's the description of Borges' crime and punishment posted a few minutes ago (7:54 p.m., to be precise) over at Boston.com:

Globe suspends sportswriter for plagiarism

By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff

The Boston Globe today suspended without pay for two months a veteran sports reporter, Ron Borges, after allegations that he had plagiarized a portion of a football column from another sportswriter.

The Globe�s editor, Martin Baron, said Borges had included in his ��Football notes�� column last Sunday material written by a reporter for the News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash.

"�The Globe does not tolerate plagiarism,"� Baron said in a statement. "Extensive passages written by the Tacoma reporter were used verbatim in the column by Borges, and that is prohibited."

Borges will also be barred from broadcast appearances over the next two months, Baron said.

The plagiarism allegation was first lodged by a website, coldhardfootballfacts.com.

Borges, who has been a sportswriter for the Globe for 24 years, has for about a decade been the national football writer for the paper, and he also covers boxing. He previously was the beat reporter covering the New England Patriots, and he has on occasion been controversial for his contrarian views and his criticism of the Patriots� head coach, Bill Belichick. Borges has won multiple honors for his writing, including being named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year for four times since 1999.

According to Globe sports editor Joe Sullivan, Borges is a subscriber to an online notes exchange used by NFL writers, who share information with one another in advance of Sunday notebook columns that run in many newspapers. Sullivan said Borges took, without attribution, language posted to the notes exchange by the News Tribune�s Seahawks writer, Mike Sando. The information had been published Feb. 25 in the News Tribune, but Sullivan said Borges was not aware of that fact.

Borges�s column, like other sports "notes" columns in the Globe, contain a line at the bottom, reading, "material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report." But Sullivan said reporters are expected to use the shared notes for background material and not to lift the language directly from one another.

Borges declined to comment, but his union representative issued a statement saying: "The Boston Newspaper Guild stands behind Ron and the high-quality work he has done for the Globe over the years. We will work on his behalf to see that justice is served in this matter."

At the News Tribune, Sando declined to comment, but deputy managing editor Dale Phelps said in a telephone interview: "It's unfortunate that this happened, but from our point of view there's no anger or dismay. You have to take care of your house, and we have to take care of ours."

3/5/2007 8:10:54 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

Before he was the new editor of the Village Voice, he was the new editor of New Times Broward-Palm Beach. And when he landed in south Florida, Tony Ortega had some interesting things to say about his past, his future, and a bunch of other stuff. Read on!

Posted November 3, 2005

New Times Editor: "I'm a Cardholding Member of the Evil Empire"

Editor's note: This letter is a response to an earlier letter by Bruce Rodgers.

To the editor:

I am Bruce Rodgers' worst nightmare. I was the ringer New Times sent to Kansas City to help Editor CJ Janovy shake off the last vestiges of the Pitch's soporific tenure under Bruce's pre-New Times editorship.

Yes, I'm a cardholding member of the Evil Empire, a New Times hack who's been at it for ten years, the boogeyman every Birkenstock-wearing hippie burnout still clinging to a paycheck at alt-weeklies sees in his sleep, coming to take his job and turn his paper into a soulless corporate moneymaker.

Have keyboard, will travel. My corporate cookie-cutting overmasters have parachuted me into four of their newspapers in five different stints (Phoenix, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Kansas City, and now Fort Lauderdale) like the merciless mercenary that I am. Not that I could tell much difference, with all the papers looking the same and marching in lockstep with the Big Boys at HQ. The only thing that really changed was that when we got down on our knees between bong hits to pray to Lacey, it was in a different direction.

Now, the first thing I do when I get to town is I kill all freedom of speech. No kitten-loving liberal can open his yap in the city I'm invading without getting a fat New Times fist in the kisser. Take that, latte-sipping PETA pukes!

But Kansas City was a tough case. I think of it as my Fallujah: easy to take over but hard as hell to quell the insurgent pricks whining about how we were an "invading force." So I went scorched-earth on the place. You would have done the same.

I mean, here was a sleepy little Midwestern town lulled into stupefaction by a solidly reported but ineptly edited daily newspaper saddled with the dullest stable of columnists in human captivity. And the weekly? Until Rodgers left, it was so predictably boring, it would greet the latest city budgetary audit with a full-blown cover story, usually titled something like "The State of the City," which on its own could easily counteract the caffeine of a grande house blend with a double shot of espresso.

Bruce's PitchWeekly loved roundtable discussions. Need I say more?

Extreme measures were the only solution. Sure, we may have gone a little blood simple on the place, the way we started paying writers actual living wages so they didn't have to run pizza-delivery routes while trying to report stories. And demanding that writers look for surprising and counterintuitive angles rather than pushing their personal political biases at readers? Like I said, we were hardasses.

But we had to be. There were plenty of local string-pullers who'd had it too easy for far too long. Scumbags like Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, Johnson County megapastor Jerry Johnston, and Missouri Child Governor Matt Blunt all felt the sting of Pitch reporting. (And they all happened to be conservative Republicans, but thankfully, that escaped the notice of our "neocon" masters.)

Still, as I got the inevitable call from HQ to saddle up for my next incursion, I knew I'd be leaving a cowtown that wouldn't soon forget the deforestation I'd visited upon it. No wonder Bruce is still hemorrhaging.

Now that I've landed again, Fort Lauderdale liberals will soon be an endangered species. And with this merger, well, I guess I'll just have to keep my jumpsuit packed.

Tony Ortega
Editor
New Times Broward-Palm Beach
16 NE Fourth St, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33305
954-233-1570
tony.ortega@newtimesbpb.com

3/5/2007 7:15:04 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

Okay, let's get this straight:

--On Wednesday, February 28*, there's a race-related discussion in the Village Voice's weekly story meeting. Editor David Blum cops to being an Upper West Side Jew and being unable to reach "Joe Jones from Flatbush," according to Radar.

--On Friday, Blum is canned. His firing is linked to comments made at the aforementioned meeting that some employees considered "offensive." Voice spokeswoman Maggie Shnayerson tells the Times: "The incident this week brought to a head concerns that the newspaper’s management had for a period of time."

--Late Friday afternoon, Bill Jensen, Village Voice Media's head of new media, breaks the news to Voice staffers. He also says he'll be interim editor.

--Today, the New York Observer reports that Tony Ortega, head of Broward-Palm Beach New Times, will be Blum's replacement.

Here's my question: given how quickly all this happened, is there anyone out there who doesn't think Blum was a dead man walking before last Wednesday's meeting?

*NOTE: Not March 7, as I originally wrote.

3/5/2007 4:37:43 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

Yesterday, the web site Cold, Hard Football Facts accused Globe sportswriter Ron Borges of lifting mass quantities of Tacoma News Tribune sportswriter Mike Sando's Feb. 25 piece on Seattle Seahawks' wide receiver Darrell Jackson (a possible Patriots target) in his March 4 "Football Notes." Some examples provided by CHFF publisher Kerry Byrne (who, to be fair, is a card-carrying Ron Borges Hater):

On Feb. 25, Mike Sando [emph. added here and elsewhere] wrote (14th & 15th paragraphs):
Jackson was leading the NFL in touchdowns last season when a turf-toe injury forced him to miss the final three games. The injury prevented Jackson from achieving his third 1,000-yard season in four years and the fourth overall.
 
Jackson still led the Seahawks with 63 catches for 956 yards and 10 touchdowns.
 
On March 4, Ron Borges wrote (2nd paragraph):
Jackson was leading the NFL in touchdowns last season when a turf-toe injury forced him to miss the final three games. The injury prevented him from reaching his third 1,000-yard season in four years, but Jackson still led Seattle with 63 catches for 956 yards and 10 touchdowns.
 
On Feb. 25, Sando wrote (16th & 17th paragraphs):
But trouble arose in March 2004 when former Seahawks president Bob Whitsitt allegedly shorted Jackson on a contract offer. Jackson said he signed the deal anyway at the urging of his father, who has since died. Whitsitt has dismissed the charge as preposterous, while Ruskell has resisted honoring a promise that a predecessor denies making.
 
The dispute has escalated ever since, with the Seahawks and Jackson’s agents exchanging a series of blunt letters, sources said.
 
On March 4, Borges wrote (3rd paragraph):
Trouble arose with Seahawks management two years ago after former team president Bob Whitsitt allegedly shorted Jackson on a contract offer. Jackson said he signed the deal anyway at the urging of his father. Whitsitt has dismissed the charge as preposterous, while present club president Tim Ruskell has refused to honor a promise that another person denies making. The dispute has escalated, with the Seahawks and Jackson's agents exchanging blunt letters.
 
On Feb. 25, Sando wrote (18th paragraph):
When Ruskell became Seahawks president in February 2005, one of his first moves was to issue a letter to players outlining his expectations. He urged full participation in the team’s offseason program, including minicamps, but Jackson let it be known he would honor his contract but nothing more. Jackson subsequently skipped the voluntary portions of minicamps.
 
On March 4, Borges wrote (4th paragraph):
When Ruskell became Seahawks president in February 2005, one of his first moves was to issue a letter to players outlining his expectations. He urged full participation in the team's offseason program, including minicamps, but Jackson let it be known he would honor his contract, but nothing more. Jackson subsequently skipped the voluntary portions of minicamps.

While you're pondering this parallelism, here's another wrinkle: as Byrne notes, the following explanation--which seems to give Borges wide latitude to appropriate other people's work--appears at the bottom of his column: "material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report."

I'm awaiting comment from Globe editor Marty Baron and Borges himself, and will post it as soon as I get it.

3/5/2007 11:08:00 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [4] |  

Last night, I received an email from ex-Seattle Weekly editor Knute "Skip" Berger taking me to task for not contacting him for my article on the New Times-Village Voice Media culture clash. Berger's right. I should have called him--especially since I quote an "ex-Weekly staffer" citing alleged improvements at the Weekly since his departure.

That's only one of Berger's points, however. He also says my article fails to address New Times' corporate management style (I believe it does) and discusses the New Times M.O. in considerable detail. If you're at all interested in this subject, give it a look.

Adam:

So, you contacted Steve Perry (he wouldn't comment); you got a great quote from Will Swaim; and don't even bother to call or email me even though you allow conclusions to be drawn about my tenure at the Weekly? Thanks a lot. That's what Mike Lacey would call "lazy" journalism.

The suggestion (anonymous? why?) that the Weekly under Mark Fefer is a better "arts" paper is absurd, though I think Mark is an excellent arts editor and he's very much a friend. But under New Times not only have they virtually eliminated the arts section in favor of longer (but fewer) listings, they've eliminated the local film section and cut back on reviews. They also let a terrific arts editor, Lynn Jacobson, slip away, back to the Seattle Times, and didn't replace her.

Instead of a page or more of book reviews each week, the paper is down to (reliably) one column per week on literary topics. The Weekly has always had good, strong arts covers--and to the extent that Mark is continuing a local tradition not typical of New Times papers, my hat's off to him.

As to the quality of the website, Seattle Weekly won the AAN award last year for best website and my hunch is the paper won't be in the hunt again this year--the website has clearly suffered in the transition. But I understand New Times is adding staff in that department, so perhaps they'll turn it around.

I think your story misses an important point, which the arts section changes exemplify. My disputes with New Times were rarely over story content. Narrative journalism, advocacy journalism, investiagtive journalism: we've all done those things and love them when they're done well.

That said, the New Times version of the Village Voice chain has shifted from a company--under David Schneiderman-- that encouraged regional difference and individualism to one that is top-down and hands-on. New Times has a cookie cutter and they're not afraid to use it.  My problem wasn't story content, it was management style: who hires and fires? Who makes judgements about productivity? Who decides how the arts are covered? Somebody in Denver, or someone in the city who understands the market, the paper, the niche?

I realize that I had an exceptionally long leash at the Weekly under the old regime. I left when it became abundantly clear that the leash had turned into a choke chain. I was asked to fire people I would not fire, and had one employee hired without any consultation. Maybe it's just me, but that was untenable no matter what kind of journalism was in the paper.

The dirty secret--well, not so secret--of New Times is that they are as corporate as corporate gets. Their *style* of corporate may involve booze and macho-talk, but there's nothing really "alternative" about it.

I can't speak as to why Swaim or Perry left, though their manner of leaving had a ring of familiarity about it: New Times exec (usually Andy Van De Voorde) comes to town, meets with editor, editor quites, departure followed by exodus of key writers, editors and columnists. The suggestion that we somehow cut and ran--and left alt journalism in the lurch--is incredibly unfair. For one thing, it implies that we won't be doing journalism--alternative or otherwise--elsewhere.

For my own part, I am involved in the start-up of a new online daily called Crosscut.com, which will cover Seattle and the Northwest. The editor is Chuck Taylor, late of the Weekly. The publisher is David Brewster, founder of Seattle Weekly. I think we're fighting the good fight as we see it in our own ways. The alweeklies can fend for themselves.
 
---Knute "Skip" Berger

3/2/2007 10:00:38 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [2] |  

Who, exactly, is currently being trained at the Boston Globe by sundry men and women whose jobs are bound for Bangalore, India later this year?



According to a tip Media Log received earlier tonight, it's the Bangaloreans (Bangalore-ites?) who'll be doing said jobs in a few months. This account was promptly confirmed by Boston Newspaper Guild president Dan Totten.* "As bizarre as that sounds, that's correct," Totten said. "The whole thing is pretty darn disgusting to us, but to further insult our workers--to have to sit there and train these people is just undignified, at best. It's appalling, nothing more than that."

"It's the biggest lie, the biggest secret in the city of Boston," Totten added. "The Boston Globe and the New York Times don't want anybody to know about this because of their editorial positions--how they constantly tell other corporations how to act and how to treat their employees. They don't want that made public."

However, Globe spokesman Al Larkin offered a somewhat different account when he spoke with Media Log a few minutes ago. "I would confirm that there are people who are from the firm that we're outsourcing to on the premises at Morrissey Boulevard right now, setting the systems that we use and examing the procedures that we use," Larkin said. Also, Larkin couldn't confirm that the current trainees are from Bangalore as opposed to some other Indian locale.

Of course, whether they're training their replacements or the people who'll be training their replacements--wherever they're from--it can't be pleasant for the people who work on the financial end of the Globe's advertising and circulation departments to be facilitating their own demise. Which raises the question: have the trainers been told they might lose any severance packages if they refuse to comply? Said Larkin: "Some severance packages are contingent upon them continuing to work until a certain date, and that is in order to help us transfer the processes."


*NOTE: An earlier post on this subject included Totten's comments but not Larkin's rebuttal; this post is a replacement.

3/1/2007 9:21:40 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [3] |  

It's been just over a year since the big New Times-Village Voice merger was finalized, and Mike Lacey & the old New Times gang have pretty much won the battle for the new company's soul. Read all about it here!

3/1/2007 10:06:22 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |