Earlier this week, I talked with Boston CIO Bill Oates about filtering problems on the city's nascent WiFi network.

"I had some discussions with the folks at Galaxy Internet, who provide internet service for the free WiFi spot," Oates told me. "I think they've gone into the filter and done some fine-tuning. I think their view is, the filter's not perfect, but they hope it can improve a little bit."

Oates also noted that last weekend's complaints represented the first bit of negative feedback City Hall had received about the Faneuil Hall-area hotspot.

Of course, to my mind, the big question was/is why the city needs to use any kind of filter whatsoever. Here's Oates' explanation:

"Because it's free, because it's in a public area, because it's a touristy, family area, and because we don't ask people to register...there was a feeling that there should just be some kind of baseline filter to [bar] offensive matter. That a kind of school-library type standard of filter would be appropriate for a site like this. And that's what Galaxy decided to do."

Anyone out there used the hotspot recently? If so, I'd love to hear whether Galaxy's tweaks have been effective.

4/27/2007 3:21:45 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [2] |  

You can read all about the frenetic publisher right here.*

*Note: when you read, ignore my silly question about the difference between personalized and social media. Example of the former: custom Google News searches. Example of the latter: YouTube. Mea culpa, Russel.

4/26/2007 10:39:54 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

Sizzlin'-hot alternative-weekly news: Weekly Dig managing editor Lissa Harris is leaving the paper to attend MIT's Graduate Program in Science Writing. We hear she's getting a full ride and a stipend, which is certainly the way to do that sort of thing. (In terms of largesse, it's also very un-Dig-esque).

If you follow this stuff, you know that Harris is the second biggish name to depart the Dig this year. Longtime editor Joe Keohane left the paper in January and is now a staff writer at Boston Magazine, the Dig's corporate sibling.

4/25/2007 1:10:59 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [16] |  

MIT sophomore David Sheets spent last Sunday figuring out exactly what's verboten on Boston's nascent WiFi network. Among his findings: you can't access the site for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, but cock rings are fair game.

A day earlier, someone else had noted that Boing Boing was also blocked, leading to speculation that City Hall was exacting revenge for the site's mockery of L'Affaire Mooninite. In fact, the problem seems to be some crappy censorware software.

As Sheets notes, this looks like a free-speech issue:

This censorship is completely unacceptable and, although I am not a lawyer, I believe it constitutes illegal government control of speech or the press. I find it absolutely despicable that public funds are being used to provide this crippled service in the shadow of one of our nation's greatest landmarks representing our common ideals of liberty and justice.

He adds this:

I think the government of the city of Boston should be applauded for researching and implementing free public wi-fi. I feel that universal, unfettered access to the internet is crucial if Boston as a city and America as a country are to remain scientific and technological powerhouses. I also do not condemn filtering outright. While I feel that information should be uncensored to the greatest extent possible, I do understand that concessions may need to be made for access to extreme sexual content, child pornography, or media involving violence or death in public places or on publically funded networks.

I've called the mayor's office for comment; you'll find it here if and when I get it.

4/24/2007 2:13:13 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

So say the Track Gals in today's Herald!!!

...Sources claim WTKK - which just lost the I-Man [Don Imus] as its 96.9 FM Talk morning host - has turned up its pursuit of Deno and Gerry which, we’re told, started waaaay before the Rutgers lady hoopsters got to the Big Dance!

...[T]ime is of the essence for ’TKK, which needs a new morning show - like “Dennis & Callahan” which is No. 1 with men 24-54 - that will immediately generate numbers as well as cash by the start of the all-important fall ratings book.

"Getting ‘Dennis & Callahan’ would be a boon for ’TKK - or WBCN [website] or whomever - since the station would have to pay big for them, but they’d be guaranteed ratings and sponsors right off the bat," said a spy. "And imagine the free publicity.

"So why would you bring in an unknown and have to spend $1 million promoting him? It doesn’t make sense,” said Deep Dial.

Couple things here. First, Gayle and Laura don't mention that Callahan is a Herald colleague. Is that because everyone knows this already? Or because that might make people wonder if Callahan himself was the source for this little nugget?

Second, here's an answer for "Deep Dial": Maybe 'TKK would pass on Dennis and Callahan in favor of an unknown talent because the Imus mess has everyone paying closer attention to offensive on-air speech, and Dennis and Callahan compared an escaped zoo gorilla to a (presumably black) METCO student a few years back, and hiring them to replace Imus could create shitloads of bad publicity.

Just an idea.

4/20/2007 8:58:02 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

Whether you think NBC should or shouldn't have broadcast Cho Seung-Hui's homemade videos yesterday, this item by anchor Brian Williams is worth reading. Among other things, Williams asserts that the public will never see the worst material Cho sent to the network:

[O]pening each computer video snippet for the first time was a sickening and harrowing experience -- and it's good to know that the worst of them -- all now in the hands of investigators -- will never see the light of day.

Reading this, I truly believe that Williams & Co. agonized over whether to show what they'd been sent. However, there's no real indication they talked about the possibility of their own coverage inspiring copycat crimes. (Williams does say he and  his colleagues were "aware that this puts words in the mouth of a murderer," but that seems like a principled rather than a pragmatic concern.)  Since the inadvertent creation of a cult of Cho was the best argument for not airing the material in question, that's a disappointment.

4/19/2007 6:57:15 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

Also, BostonNOW's debut and instability at the Globe's City & Region section. And it's all just one click away!

4/19/2007 7:59:50 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

On Monday, Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff won a Pulitzer Prize for History for The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation (Knopf).

Earlier this year, I spoke with Roberts--the legendary former editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer--about that book and the lessons today's journalists can draw from their civil-rights-era predecessors. If you didn't check out the Q-and-A at the time, please take a look.

*Note: by "pre-Pulitzer," I mean before this year's Pulitzer. As a reader pointed out--and as I noted in my intro to said interview--the Inquirer won 17 Pulitzers in Roberts' 18 years as editor.

4/18/2007 11:26:47 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [2] |  

My friend Dan Kennedy likes the op-ed in today's Globe, which hammers the New York Times Co.--the Globe's corporate parent--for outsourcing 45 jobs to India. Me, I'm not so sure.

The op-ed in question was co-written by Robert Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, and Jeremy Crockford, identified as "a public relations consultant who represents both the state AFL-CIO and the Boston Newspaper Guild." What isn't mentioned is that Crockford does his PR work at O'Neill and Associates--which, as Globe columnist Joan Vennochi reminded us last summer, also lobbies on behalf of Big Dig contractor Bechtel. In fact, Crockford is an ex-Bechtel employee who was intimately linked with its Big Dig work. From his O'Neill and Associates bio:

Beginning in 1999, Mr. Crockford worked for Bechtel Corp. as Chief of Staff/Director of Communications on the nation’s largest construction project, Boston’s $15 billion Big Dig. Mr. Crockford worked with the project director, deputy director and construction manager to analyze project fiscal, construction and schedule information to determine the project’s true financial condition. Mr. Crockford was instrumental in making the project’s bottom line public, and was the chief spokesman on the issue in the national and local media.

Other O'Neill and Associates clients include MassPort, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Associated Health Plan, Citizens Bank, Sovereign Bank, and Massachusetts Court Appointed Special Advocates.

Now, the Globe's reporters and columnists won't necessarily go easy on Bechtel or any other O'Neill client simply because O'Neill represents the Globe union. The aformentioned Vennochi column is proof of that. Still, just as there was something awkward about Ted Kennedy, Steve Lynch and other local politicians sending an anti-outsourcing letter to the Times Co., there's something awkward about the Globe union's lobbying firm representing clients who'll be the subject of future Globe coverage. Haynes' advocacy raises questions too, but at least readers were told exactly who he is.

4/13/2007 3:24:43 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [2] |  

The two BostonNOW promos I got during my morning commute are packed with interesting stuff. Some highlights:

--Every story in the paper (which, in case you've missed it, is the new free daily that debuts next week) allow threaded reader comments at BostonNOW.com. Great move; let's hope it prompts the Globe to follow suit.

--"If a story deserves an interactive map of crime at MBTA subway, train and bus stops, you'll find it on BostonNOW.com. If a story includes an interview with a controversial politician, you'll be able to listen to the entire interview and make up your own mind.... If a story includes a behind-the-scenes video fo a hot new band or an illegal spa or the latest Boston fashion show, you'll find it on BostonNOW.com." If BostonNOW can deliver, fantastic, but they're setting the bar really high here.

--Readers are invited to pack BostonNOW with content, both in the paper and on the web. "If you have something to say, a story to report, a video to share, a slide show to post, music to share, all you have to do is register on bostonnow.com, write your blog, choose what section of the paper it should appear in, and hit the button. Your entry will be delivered to the editor of the appropriate section and considered for publication. No matter what, your posting will be on the Web site for all to share [emphasis added]." Elsewhere, we're told that BostonNOW.com will be self-policed; if a post is deemed "obscene or libelous" by a reader, the staff will either delete it or let it stand. "What we will not do is edit it. The integrity of the blog is essential to presenting the true voice of the blogger." Sounds easy; my guess is that implementation won't be.

--Serialized reader-generated fiction in every issue! "Everyone loves a good story. Especially when it's suspensful and pulls you along from chapter to chapter. We'll give you that suspense daily, with a local author's short story, one chapter a day, starting on Monday and wrapping up on Friday." This I love.

--There's going to be a special, student-generated college section, dubbed CampusNOW. "Even though Boston is one of the world's largest, most vibrant college towns...you'd never know it from reading area newspapers." I'd say that's about right. But in contrast to the serialized fiction (see above), this won't be a good read unless the quality's high.

Bottom line: if BostonNOW can make good on these ambitions, Metro Boston and its corporate parents, the Globe and Metro International, are going to have a nasty fight on their hands.

4/12/2007 11:00:00 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

In this week's paper, I profile Pastor Bruce Wall, whose ability to work the Boston media has become both a great asset and a dangerous weakness.

One thing I intended to mention in the story but didn't: unlike most local press, the Dorchester Reporter has frequently been skeptical of Wall and his methods. Here's one example, here's another, and here's another.

Also: headline suggestions for future Dice-K stories, free for use by the Globe, Herald, etc.

4/12/2007 10:15:46 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

Carolyn Ryan's exit isn't the only big change at Morrissey Boulevard. Effective yesterday, reporter Gareth Cook--who won a 2005 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism--is deputy editor of the Globe's Ideas section.

Here's how Cook explained his move to the Phoenix: "I've always been really interested in the Ideas section. I just thought it was a very great thing the Globe does, and I think it's not too strong to say it's unique. And the work I'm doing here is actually quite similar to what I've been doing as a science reporter, which is trying to share with readers a world that is often behind closed doors, that's hard to understand.

"The other thing is, I had that [reporting] job for seven years," Cook added. "I think like a lot of journalists, I got into this business because I had a fundamentally short attention span. This is a way of working on a different set of things, thinking about a different set of things, and working for a sectino I've always been really enthusiastic about.

Finally, Cook said, intellectual matters--like science--are an area in which Boston enjoys some eminence: "As a journalist, you're generally looking for where your competitive advantage is.... I just see this as an area where [the Globe] can really make a difference."

Here's the memo in which Ideas editor Wen Stephenson announced Cook's hiring:

I have the great pleasure to announce that one of the Globe's very finest will soon be joining the Ideas staff: Effective Monday, Gareth Cook will be the section's new deputy editor.

As many of you already know, John Swansburg, the section's current deputy editor, is heading to New York to take a job as an editor at Slate. His last day is this Friday. It's impossible to overstate how much John will be missed. He brought huge amounts of talent, intelligence, and humanity to the job, and all of us who've worked with him here wish him the very best.

Gareth, like those who've held the deputy position since Ideas launched in 2002 (Jenny Schuessler, myself, and John), will be a true partner and collaborator in shaping the section as it continues to evolve. He'll bring great strengths: not only his knowledge of science and his experience as a reporter, but his broad experience as an editor.

All of us know Gareth as a Pulitzer Prize-winning science reporter, but many may not know that Gareth's career prior to the Globe included significant stints in magazine journalism as an editor of one kind or another. Indeed, his current job as a science reporter was his first full-time writing job. After graduating from Brown University in 1991 (with degrees in both mathematical physics and international relations), he worked as an editor at an academic quarterly (Foreign Policy), a political monthly (The Washington Monthly), and two weeklies (U.S.News and the Boston Phoenix, where he was the News editor).

In January 1999, Peter Canellos hired him to work on the Globe's city desk, and he served as editor of the New England section and then as the Sunday Metro editor. There was a time, he tells me, when he was probably best known around the newsroom as Ellen Barry's editor, because "she was on a tear of doing great New England stories for Sunday page one, and I got to sit back and take credit for them." Spoken like a great editor!

Interestingly enough, Gareth was also part of the team that conceptualized and produced the prototype for the Ideas section in 2001 and 2002, and he even wrote a story for the prototype. So it's fair to say he's been a believer in the section's possibilities since day one -- and there is, as he puts it, "a certain logic" in his coming to work here.

Gareth, 37, lives in Jamaica Plain, and he and his wife, Amanda, have two children, Oliver, 5, and Aidan, 4 months, to whom Gareth is utterly devoted.

I'm proud to welcome him to Ideas.

-Wen

4/11/2007 4:14:38 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

If I were a recently jobless Herald alum--or part of the skeleton crew currently putting out the paper--I wouldn't be able to get this nugget from today's Globe story on Fenway luxury suites out of my head:

[T]he average Fenway Park suite is being leased at about $283,000 per season with a 10-year minimum, Kennedy said. That’s an increase from the $218,000 per-year average cost of a suite last year, which came with only a three-year commitment.... [emph. added]

There is a waiting list of about 15 companies who want suites at Fenway Park, a list that got no shorter even after the Red Sox hiked the price of their suites. Only one suite owner, the Boston Herald, chose not to renew under the new terms, Kennedy said. A deal has yet to be signed for that suite, Kennedy said.

"Given the current state of economic affairs for newspapers across this country, who are being forced to tighten their belts, it seemed like a prudent business decision. It’s got nothing at all to do with our love for the Red Sox,’’ said Herald spokesman George Regan.

Better late then never, I guess.

4/10/2007 5:33:43 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

Carolyn Ryan's departure from the Globe is the local journalistic story of the moment; the New York Observer, the Herald's Jesse Noyes, and Dan Kennedy have all written about it.

I second Dan's assessment of Ryan. In my dealings with her, Ryan was always admirably responsive and forthright.

Here's how Globe editor Marty Baron sized up Ryan's exit:

To the staff:

It’s tough to lose outstanding people, even to our friends at The New York Times. But that’s the news I have for you today.
Carolyn Ryan will be joining The New York Times as deputy metro editor for government and politics. Good news for the Times, lousy news for us. But I know that all of us wish Carolyn the very best as she takes on an exciting new challenge.
Carolyn will have responsibility for Times coverage of city and state politics as well as coverage of the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut delegations in Congress. She will direct coverage of US House and Senate races in New York, in addition to campaigns for New York mayor and governor.

The Times, of course, will be getting a fiercely energetic, competitive, and hard-working editor, one who has distinguished herself here as deputy city editor, political editor, Assistant Managing Editor/Metro, and most recently as Deputy Managing Editor/Local News. She now oversees all of our local coverage in the city of Boston and throughout the region, while also overseeing our health and science staff.

Since joining the Globe in 1999, Carolyn has led coverage of many of our biggest news stories, bringing to them her trademark enthusiasm and innovative spirit. She has hired many of the exceptionally talented people on our Metro staff, and she has helped us move aggressively online with breaking news and multimedia packages.

We’ll try to move quickly to find a replacement for Carolyn, looking both within our organization and outside for an individual who can offer knowledge of the area, strong leadership, superior journalistic skills, and the ability to manage a large staff.
We haven’t yet settled on Carolyn’s departure date. So I’ll get back to you on that. But you don’t have to wait to tell her how much she’ll be missed and how grateful we are for her many contributions to the Globe’s success.

Marty

4/10/2007 9:18:30 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

We can't call it a trend yet, since it hasn't happened three times. But for the second straight week, the big soft-news offering in the Sunday Times was Boston-centric. Yesterday, it was a great big treatment of unwise things (some understandable, some not so much) people do when dealing with heart disease. Last week, of course, it was the "Amazing Girls" of Newton North and the struggles they face.

Let's hope this doesn't become a habit. Any number of national-trend stories can be hooked to Boston, and it'll always be easier and cheaper for the Times to do protracted reporting here than in Chicago, LA, etc. But too much of this will make the Times look like the Eastern seaboard's paper of record, not the nation's.

4/9/2007 10:40:51 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

My question: can anyone remember another instance of the Globe and Herald leading with identical headlines? (And no, I don't think the Herald's hyphens are significant.)

Also, shouldn't there be some kind of penalty in cases like this?

4/6/2007 7:24:50 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [6] |  

Here's my question about the Herald's new Guardian Angel blog: can the paper cover the Angels with any semblance of objectivity since they're now Herald contributors?

I'd say no. Letting the Angels get their message out via the Herald's web site-and giving their contributions prominent play--strikes me as a de facto endorsement of the group and its methods, the Herald's disclaimer ("All opinions in this blog are those of the Guardian Angels organization and not the Boston Herald") notwithstanding.

UPDATE: Joe Sciacca, the Herald's deputy managing editor for news, says I'm wrong--and that he hopes the Herald gets more blogs from newsmakers in the future.

"It's an opportunity for our readers to directly engage a newsmaker, and I think that I'd like to have more of that," Sciacca says. "Frankly, the beauty of the internet and the beauty of blogging is that you remove the filter; as opposed to a reporter interviewing someone, you have that person being directly interviewed or questioned by readers.... I don't think there's a shred of evidence that the Herald's pulled its punches on the Guardian Angles," he adds. "I haven't had a single reader raise that complaint."

"Today's entry's got Curtis Sliwa saying he wishes the police would stop referring to them as vigilantes," Sciacca adds. "They're making news on our web site, basically engaging politicians, which is great."

4/5/2007 10:36:35 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

In this week's issue, I gaze deep into Barstool's soul and wrestle with what I see.

Unfortunately, I make two mistakes in the process. MA unemployment insurance (which Barstool founder Dave Portnoy collected before launching the paper in '03) is funded by taxes on businesses, not individuals. And Barstool writer Jamie Chisholm isn't named "Jerry."

Also, CNN's Kyra Phillips: secret agent of conservatism or endearingly goofy ditz?

4/5/2007 8:17:59 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

It wasn't as bad as it seemed!

That's the mildly heartening conclusion of "Anna Nicole Smith--Anatomy of a Feeding Frenzy," a new report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Here's a fuller explanation:

The Smith saga did not attract major coverage from all the media sectors studied, which includes 48 different outlets across five media sectors.... Instead, it was driven largely by relentless attention from two—both television-based. One was network morning news. The other, even bigger, was cable TV news, where this story accounted for nearly a quarter of all the airtime....

These findings add to the evidence of cable’s fixation on one big event. But they also go beyond that. The fact that for the most part, the newspapers, web sites, nightly network newscasts, and radio news outlets treated Smith’s death as a blip on the radar screen speaks to cable’s ability to magnify an event until it feels like the only story on the entire media agenda.

Still more proof that cable fries the brain. The full report is available here.

4/4/2007 2:34:46 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

 

Over the last few days, blogger Dave Guarino has written extensively about the Globe metro columnist slot that opened up when Eileen McNamara left. In addition to listing some possible successors (e.g. Carolyn* Ryan, Yvonne Abraham, Beth Healy), Guarino lavished praise on metro columnist Brian McGrory, who’s since shifted into McNamara’s coveted Wed/Sun slot:

Anyone who knows me or has read this blog probably figured out by now that I'm an unapologetic fan of Brian McGrory, the Boston Globe's Metro columnist.

For me, it's as simple as this: He's the only writer in town - from either paper - that I will read start to finish no matter what the subject.

There are several others who come close, "Downtown" columnist Steve Bailey and my former boss Joe Sciacca (when he had his column). But it's McGrory who, I think, truly carries the pulse of Boston. It wasn't always that way. I think he has truly hit his stride in the last two years - wonderfully skewering pols (yes, including ones I have/do work for), telling stories of woe and triumph no one else will and truly covering the city from the columnist's chair.

Afterward, Guarino favorably reviewed McGrory’s fiction.

Here’s what’s interesting about Guarino’s observations: in addition to blogging, Guarino is also communications director for Massachusetts House Speaker Sal DiMasi. Which raises the question: was Guarino praising McGrory as a private citizen, or as DiMasi’s top flack? Here’s how a Media Log reader put it: "Should David Guarino, press secretary to Sal DiMasi, be blogging about the media? Doesn't Sal own everything Guarino writes, just like John Edwards did? So far, it's mild stuff, but still...."

I emailed Guarino last night on this subject and haven’t heard back; if he replies, I’ll post it here. In the meantime, remember that Governor Deval Patrick's recent attempt to bifurcate his public and private lives failed. Finally, here's my advice for Brian McGrory: don't let Guarino sweet-talk you into writing a puff piece about his boss.

*CORRECTION: Not "Caroline," as I originally wrote, who's bound for the Times anyway.

4/4/2007 10:31:57 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [2] |  

Yesterday's Post featured a great critique of the annual Gridiron Club dinner, wherein Washington's journalists and politicans pal around and perform stupid skits. The Post's Linton Weeks makes an excellent case that the dinner is not, in fact, such a good thing:

It's one thing for comedians and satirists to turn political transgressions into punch lines. It's another for those of us charged with exposing those sins to make light of them. And for people who committed the sins to be guffawing at our jokes in the audience. How can reporters ask the tough questions -- about, yes, the Iraq war, global warming and perjury -- of politicians on Monday morning when we've been yukking it up together about those very same issues on Saturday night?

...But is it funny? As humor trumped skepticism once again last night, we couldn't help wondering why this charade parade goes on year after year. Or is that skepticism we see every day at White House news conferences and nightly news interviews just a stage show,and this chumminess reality?

Righteous.

Having said that, here's why Weeks's argument makes me uneasy. Every December, I anxiously await Mayor Menino's press party, which takes place in the luxurious confines of Parkman House and at which much delicious food and drink are served. There are no skits, thank God, but there is fraternization between the mayor and his administration, on the one hand, and those of us who are supposed to be critically covering city government. This fete has never made me reluctant to whack the mayor. Even so, if the Gridiron Club dinner is ethically suspect, isn't the mayor's holiday party, too?

4/2/2007 12:23:05 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

We've got a tale of two ledes today, folks. First, the Globe:

Mayor Thomas M. Menino attended Palm Sunday services in the city yesterday, trying to reassure people that Boston is safe.

"This city is working," Menino told more than 900 people gathered at Morning Star Baptist Church in Mattapan. "There are good things happening. Let's not focus on the negatives."

Now the Herald:

Despite a murder rate 60 percent higher than last year’s body count and bloodshed that continued to escalate with a shooting last night, Mayor Thomas M. Menino defiantly denied yesterday that Boston is in crisis, instead blaming the media for negative headlines.

“A lot of people want to believe it’s out of control. It’s not out of control,” Menino assured a packed house at Greater Love Tabernacle in the heart of Dorchester’s shooting gallery, where he was welcomed by thunderous applause.

“This city works. The problem is you’re always seeing headlines about the bad news. I wish we had a good news newspaper. The Good News of Boston. The bad guys don’t control this city, they only control the headlines.”

Note: judging from each paper's write-up, the Herald didn't send anyone to Morning Star, and the Globe didn't have a reporter at Greater Love Tabernacle.

If Herald reporter Laurel J. Sweet's quotation is accurate, the latter appearance was not one of Mayor Menino's finer moments. Actually, Mayor, the immediate "problem" isn't negative media; it's that Dwayne Graham was fatally shot while riding an MBTA bus Friday afternoon. The broader "problem" is an upsurge in lethal violence. Please drop this line of argument before you embarrass yourself.

UPDATE: My colleague David Bernstein offers a gentler take on Menino's remarks here.

4/2/2007 7:30:58 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

Today’s 4800-word Times story on the “amazing girls” of Newton North High School is currently the most emailed item at NYTimes.com. This is depressing.

Here’s the conceit:

Esther and Colby are two of the amazing girls at Newton North High School here in this affluent suburb just outside Boston. “Amazing girls” translation: Girls by the dozen who are high achieving, ambitious and confident (if not immune to the usual adolescent insecurities and meltdowns). Girls who do everything: Varsity sports. Student government. Theater. Community service. Girls who have grown up learning they can do anything a boy can do, which is anything they want to do.
 
But being an amazing girl often doesn’t feel like enough these days when you’re competing with all the other amazing girls around the country who are applying to the same elite colleges that you have been encouraged to aspire to practically all your life.

Spare us. Given the socioeconomic backgrounds of the Newton North females in question, their sundry achievements aren't as impressive as they might otherwise be; basically, these kids are just doing what they’re supposed to do. The threats they allegedly confront, meanwhile—e.g., the "anorexia of the soul" about which Amazing Esther Mobley's mother frets—pale next to the menaces that adolescent girls in less rarified surroundings face.

Brenda Tejada Baez is amazing. Esther and her buddies, not so much.

4/1/2007 12:59:33 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [12] |