Earlier today, Dan Kennedy was struck by the Globe's newfound credulity--in its serialized book-in-waiting on Mitt Romney--regarding the pro-choice bona fides of Mitt's mother, Lenore, who ran for the US Senate in 1970.

Myself, I was interested in how the Globe spun a story about the Romney clan's dog crapping on top of their car during a family road trip:

As the oldest son, Tagg Romney commandeered the way-back of the wagon, keeping his eyes fixed out the rear window, where he glimpsed the first sign of trouble. ''Dad!'' he yelled. ''Gross!'' A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who'd been riding on the roof in the wind for hours.

As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management. [emph. added]

Ultimately, both aspects of today's Romney opus highlight the same problem: the potential national impact of the Globe's Romney series is inversely proportional to conservatives' ability to dismiss it as a liberal-media hatchet job.

This quandary is partly Romney's doing, since the Massachusetts media has, like the state itself, been the punchline of many a Romney campaign-trail quip. During an October 2006 visit to Florida, for example, Romney offered this: "There are two factions of reporters where I come from in Massachusetts. We have the Hillary-loving, Ted Kennedy apologists--and we have the liberals."

The Globe obviously wants to be the paper of record where Romney is concerned, especially if he's the GOP nominee. And this, in turn, creates a strong incentive to strive for "balanced" coverage--especially in a massive, high-profile project like this one.

6/27/2007 12:02:07 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [3] |  

At least, that's the term used in a note posted today by Chris Lydon and Mary McGrath. Read between the lines, though, and it sounds like the show--which was recently dropped by WGBH--might not be back at all.

Here's the note in question:

This is not the news we ever dreamed of posting.

After tomorrow’s broadcast we are putting Open Source on a summer hiatus. We learned late last week that a brand-name media company that had asked to partner with us had changed its mind. So for now, the best hope on the near horizon of relaunching the program and refinancing it has gone aglimmering.

Without a substantial new funder, we cannot keep paying our bills. Your help and support has helped bridge the cost of production these last six weeks and helped pay some of our debts. For now the most responsible thing seems to be to regroup and think realistically about a new program for the fall.

We are actively dedicated, all day every day, to the essential mission: seizing the epochal opportunity of the web to stretch the public conversation… to hybridize media, to enlist the audience, to extend the palette of colors in the cultural as well as the political conversation; in short to democratize and globalize one model forum of constructive talk for the new century.

Many of you have told us to forget about conventional public broadcasting and concentrate on producing the best damn podcast on the Internet. So in order to clear our heads, accentuate the positive and focus resolutely on the future, we need to step back for the moment from daily production.

Keeping the OS website alive and dynamic is a top priority. Please don’t just watch this space. Help fill this space. We want to post content regularly. What would you like to see or hear? I’ll post conversations I’ve already scheduled with Harold Bloom and Larry Summers. I’ve asked Sonny Rollins if he would care to stretch out again before his 50th anniversary trio concert with Roy Haynes and Christian McBride in Carnegie Hall in September. So many things to talk about, so little time! You’ve helped us create this space… now what do you want to do with it?

If you can help us reconceive all the fundamental things: a conversation that’s a little different, that’s global and alert to the interactive possibilities of the Internet, by all means consider yourself enlisted. If you see a threads of successful shows — passion series, race-and-class series, musical series — that could be models going forward, please speak up.

By far the hardest part of this decision is disbanding our amazing staff. They’ve stuck by us over the last two years of in an intense colleague-ship of work and learning together. They have contributed mightily to the interest of the show and the website. We want to work with them again.

As always, Emerson speaks to a great deal of what we’re feeling. This comes from the end of his marvelous essay “Circles.”

“Nothing is secure but life, transition, the energizing spirit. No love can be bound by oath or covenant to secure it against a higher love. No truth so sublime but it may be trivial to-morrow in the light of new thoughts. People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them.”

Thank you for passionate, engaged, listenership and commentary these last two years. And let us all together keep this “community of the curious” alive and growing.

In the spirit of Emerson: Onward, ever onward!

Christopher Lydon and Mary McGrath

6/27/2007 11:00:40 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

So says Peter Canellos, the Globe's Washington, D.C. bureau chief, in today's "National Perspective" column on Michael Bloomberg.

Writes Canellos: "Other candidates, such as Bloomberg's mayoral predecessor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and many Democrats, are offering their own messages of competence-not-ideology."

What th--?

Seriously, I'm not sure where Canellos is getting this. Consider these bon mots from our former governor:

"My view is, we ought to double Guantamo."--May '07 Republican presidential debate

"This is not the time for us to shrink from conservative principles. It is time for us to stand in strength."--Conservative Political Action Committee conference, February '07

"America is under attack from almost every direction. We have been attacked by murderous terrorists here in this great city. Our employers and jobs are threatened by low-cost, highly skilled labor from abroad. American values are under attack from within."--2004 Republican National Convention speech

Am I missing something?

6/26/2007 3:25:05 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [3] |  

Here's Number One; here's Number Two.

Also, I'd like to address a part of the Shaughnessy story that's prompted several angry responses this morning. About two-thirds of the way through the piece, I quote a nasty comment that a BarstoolSports.com reader made about Dan Shaughnessy's wife.

The aformentioned emailers think this was completely inappropriate. One termed my inclusion of the quote "vile," "disgraceful" and "unhinged."

Here's what I've said in response: I included the comment to show just how over the top some of Shaughnessy's detractors are. To my mind, the quote reflects poorly on Shaughnessy's angriest critics and makes Shaughnessy himself look more sympathetic.

Thoughts, readers?

6/21/2007 11:33:49 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [13] |  

Print readers of the Phoenix won't get my take on Yvonne Abraham and Kevin Cullen being tapped as the Globe's new metro columnists until Thursday. But as a Media Log reader, you can read it now!

When two of the Boston Globe’s three metro columnists left the paper earlier this year — Eileen McNamara for a teaching job at Brandeis, Brian McGrory to become the paper’s metro editor — there was talk inside the paper that editor Marty Baron might simply leave their jobs unfilled. This wouldn’t necessarily have been a surprise, given with Baron’s ongoing, aggressive re-invention of the Globe (see “A New Balance,” News & Features, May 23). But it would have diluted and depersonalized the paper.

Fortunately, that talk was wrong. On Tuesday, Baron announced that reporters Kevin Cullen, 48, and Yvonne Abraham, 40, would be taking over McNamara and McGrory’s jobs at a yet-to-be-determined date.

The Globe’s readers should be heartened by this news. In his memo, Baron focused on Cullen’s deep Boston roots — which should be an asset in a city that frequently seems to be losing its memory (sometimes with the Globe’s help). What’s more intriguing, though, is the old-school populism that informs Cullen’s conception of the job. “A metro column is a very powerful vehicle,” he tells the Phoenix. “It can be a showcase for writing and a showcase for storytelling, but also a showcase for voices you don’t normally hear in the paper. So often, the voices we hear are those of people with a lot of power and clout.”

Couple this attitude with Cullen’s reporting chops, and his column should quickly become a must-read. As a member of the Globe Spotlight Team in the 1980s, Cullen did pioneering work on Whitey and Billy Bulger. Later, after covering Northern Ireland and becoming the paper’s London Bureau chief — which took him to Serbia during NATO’s bombing campaign — Cullen returned to Boston and worked on the paper’s Pulitzer-winning coverage of sex abuse in the Boston Archdiocese.

And Abraham? The Sydney native’s résumé isn’t quite as beefy as Cullen’s. But her multitude of Morrissey Boulevard beats (immigration, the State House, the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns) and stints at the Phoenix and Boston magazine give her a stronger base of local knowledge than most non-natives.

What’s more, Abraham has the kind of eye for detail and knack for narrative that most journalists can only covet. Consider this 1997 description of doomed mayoral candidate Peggy Davis-Mullen stumping at the Forest Hills T station, written when Abraham was a reporter at the Phoenix:

"Some folks walk right by her. Others stop to shake her hand. Others still — like the little old lady in the lavender raincoat and matching head scarf — seem to think she is an MBTA official, and nervously flash their T passes at her.

"Then there are the folks who’d talk to anyone, like the old guy in the yellow-and-purple baseball cap, his shirt and vest done up with one huge diaper pin, who inches into the councilor’s breathing space and wants to know, “Where are the 80 geese that used to be over around East Boston? No one will tell me where they are!”

"Davis-Mullen cracks a helpless smile. Politics doesn’t get any worse than this."

The caveat, obviously, is that Cullen and Abraham have yet to write a word in their new roles. But given their track records, they probably won’t disappoint.

That's my two cents. Here's Dan Kennedy's, here's Seth Gitell's, here's Adam Gaffin's, and here's the Weekly Dig's.

And here's Marty Baron's:

To the staff:

The Globe lost the strong voices of two superb columnists in recent months as Brian McGrory assumed leadership of the local news staff and Eileen McNamara left us to become a journalism professor at Brandeis University. I’m delighted to report that we’ll be replacing both of them, and that Yvonne Abraham and Kevin Cullen will bring their fresh, eloquent voices as columnists to our metro front.

Both have intimate knowledge and deep affection for this city and the region. Both are known for distinguished and distinctive reporting on a wide range of stories. And both have the insatiable curiosity, writing
chops, and energy that are the essential ingredients of a standout columnist. Both have strong opinions, too. With this appointment, they can finally let loose.

Still, as you know, their backgrounds are very different.

Yvonne, 40, was born in Sydney, Australia to Lebanese immigrants. She worked "every crappy job you can imagine," she says, but found her way to graduating from the University of Sydney with a double major in history and English literature. She got a couple of years into a PhD but abandoned that idea "when I realized I preferred shorter lead times." After working as a debt collector for a fancy department store "cajoling payments out of the formerly well-heeled," she came to Boston on a Rotary Foundation fellowship in 1993 to get a master's degree in journalism at Boston University. She worked a year as a staff writer at Boston magazine, followed by two years covering city hall, education, public housing and other topics at the Boston Phoenix, and then finally arrived at the Globe in January, 1999. Yvonne has gone on to do general assignment, cover presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004, work the State House for four years, take on an assignment in Pakistan after 9/11, and, most recently, cover immigration.

Kevin, 48, is Boston to the core. Born here and raised in Malden, Kevin says he was an "All-Star altar boy" in his first eight years at Catholic school who still "fought constantly with the nuns over what I would call intellectual freedom." He then went to Malden High and on to UMass Amherst, before withdrawing and enrolling at Trinity College in Dublin -- "fulfilling a fascination with my roots that the sociologists call 'third generation return.'" He returned to UMass for his degree as a double major in journalism and political science. Before his first newspaper interview, Kevin says, “I stayed up all night, reading the New York Times, trying to memorize the name of Thailand’s foreign minister, as if that would be what the managing editor of the Transcript-Telegram of
Holyoke would ask me in my interview.” Instead, the managing editor asked him, "What’s the least amount of money you would work for?” Apparently, Kevin answered correctly. After two years there, he joined the Boston Herald to cover cops. Since he was hired by the Globe in 1985, he has been police reporter, all-around street reporter, European correspondent (covering Ireland and the war in Kosovo), member of the Spotlight team that exposed the FBI's corrupt relationship with Whitey Bulger, and a member of the Pulitzer-winning investigative team that cracked the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. He was a Nieman fellow in 2003 and, most recently, a projects reporter. "From the time I began working as a street reporter," Kevin says, "my dream job was to be a metro columnist for the newspaper I grew up reading."

We haven't yet determined when Kevin and Yvonne will start. Meantime, please join me in congratulating both of them on their exciting, but challenging, new assignment.

Marty

6/19/2007 4:51:55 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [1] |  

OK, I admit it--that's not completely fair. Paul Levy, the blogger and Beth Israel Deaconness honcho, has some other suggested tweaks for the Boston Globe, including allowing unmoderated comments on stories and cultivating a 24/7 news operation.

I like those ideas. But I'm not wild about Levy's suggestion that the Globe devote a page or more every day to locally grown blog content. Here's the heart of Levy's pitch:

So, let's say that one or more pages of the Globe daily edition (and of course, the online version, too) were devoted to excerpts from blogs of people who had given permission to be excerpted. Let's say that the Globe paid those people a nominal fee every time an excerpt was used....

Now, let's say that people would be paid in scrip -- let's call it "GlobeCash" -- that could be used for on-line purchasers with advertisers who had either advertised on the online or paper version of the newspaper. Or, let's say people could donate their payment to a charity of their choice. Or maybe advertisers announce that a portion of the proceeds received through GlobeCash will be donated to the Boys and Girls club or -- better yet, to the charity of your choice in your neighborhood....

Imagine the flow of bloggers who would vie to be seen by several hundred thousand viewers every day. Only the Globe has the potential to offer this exposure. Imagine the buzz when you pick my blog excerpt today. What do I do? I immediately post the fact that I have been excerpted, and I direct even more traffic to the Globe. Other bloggers try to write more and more interesting stuff so they can be chosen. An intensely powerful set of positive feedback loops is created. As a blogger, I'm happy. Readers are happy because they are getting the latest news and commentary from a variety of sources. Advertisers are happy because they are getting eyes, clicks, and feel-good PR because of their charitable contributions.

[W]hat is really happening here? All of sudden, regardless of actual ownership, this is now our newspaper. You have given me a reason to check in, to participate, to feel pride, and to feel a sense that you are relevant to our community in a variety of ways.

Maybe my mistake is thinking like a journalist instead of a reader--but I really question the notion that people read newspapers to get a warm, fuzzy, participatory glow. They read them (at least I do) because they want a timely, authoritative, skilfully packaged mix of information and analysis.

If I could read only one paper every day, it would be the New York Times--not because the Times makes me feel valued or relevant or connected to my local community, but because the content is so good. No direspect to the Globe, but I think I'd feel that way even if the paper implemented Levy's plan.

Dan Kennedy has a very different take.

6/18/2007 2:51:45 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [2] |  

Breaking public-radio news: starting in July, WGBH-FM (89.7) won't be carrying Chris Lydon's Open Source program.

Surprised? So was I. After all, the Globe recently reported that Open Source--which was just dropped by its former distributor, Public Radio International--had scraped together enough money to keep operating through the end of the summer.

But WGBH spokesperson Lucy Sholley says it's so. "WGBH was proud to bring [Lydon] back to public radio, and we wish him and Open Source Media the best of luck," she adds. "We hope there will be other opportunities for us to work together in the future."

The tipster who alerted us to this development also said that Open Source Media, Lydon's production company, still owes 'GBH thousands of dollars in studio fees. (To state the semi-obvious, Open Source Media rents out 'GBH studio space to make the show.) Sholley wouldn't comment on this. "We have a business arrangement with Open Source Media in that we lease them our studio space," she says, "and it would be inappropriate for us to comment on a business arrangement."

I've tried and failed to reach Mary McGrath, Lydon's producer; if I get comment from her or Lydon, I'll post it here. In the meantime, it's hard not to wonder how this development will affect Open Source's fundraising efforts--and whether some of the program's recent benefactors might regret their decision.

6/13/2007 5:45:55 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [11] |  

...For getting under Bill O'Reilly's skin. Kudos, Mark!

My favorite part: the description of Mark as a "committed leftist." Makes me nostalgic for the days when Mark and I would while away the afternoon at the Lucy Parsons Center.

6/13/2007 11:29:41 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [9] |  

Well, Boston Now published Part 2 of its "Another side of Scientology" series today, and it's a doozy.  The subhed--"Parents, pols grapple with church's role in teaching Boston kids"--suggests that correspondent Kim Abruzzo might atone for yesterday's puff piece. But Abruzzo sure doesn't.

As with yesterday's story, you've really got to read this article in its entirety to appreciate just how credulous it is. But here are some lowlights:

A pull quote from Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. "[A] workable, secular educational method with proven results." Right there in the middle of the page. That's how Hubbard describes the "study technique" used by Boston's Delphi Academy. There's no dissenting take from any Scientology critic; instead, city councilor Chuck Turner (who's not always the most reliable observer) is quoted saying he likes what he's seen at Delphi.

A half-assed discussion of Scientology's "Citiznes Commission on Human Rights." Here's what Abruzzo tells us about CCHR, which shares an office with the aformentioned Volunteer Ministry:

According to CCHR, formed as an arm of Scientology in 1969, psychiatric diagnoses are disorders, not diseases, and are not proven to be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. '[CCHR] is an outlet...if a person has been institutionalized without consent, or if a mother has been ordered to put her child on psychiatric drugs or face losing custody,' [Volunteer Ministry founder Robert] Castagna said.

This is where things get really remarkable. Abruzzo doesn't provide any countervailing criticism of CCHR--which suggests, to me, that she's either a Scientologist herself or just a weak reporter. [Addendum: a reader argues the blame lies with Abruzzo's editors rather than Abruzzo herself. In retrospect, I think that's right.]

Consider this excerpt of a January 24, 2007 MetroWest Daily News story on CCHR's reaction to the apparent murder earlier this year of James Alenson by John Odgren, who's been diagnosed with hyperactivity disorder and Asperger's, a mild form of autism. As the excerpt indicates, CCHR's goals are somewhat broader that Castagna indicated:

A Scientology group targeting "toxic" medications plans to protest in Sudbury today for a public airing of any drugs given to the teen accused of murdering another boy at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School last week....

"I think everybody will be devastated," said Rebecca Goniwich, a Sudbury special-needs advocate, of today’s noon protest.

"Walk a mile in our shoes before you judge," added the mother of an autistic teen.

Members of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, established by the Church of Scientology, will hold a 20-foot banner stating: "Psychiatry’s toxic drugs cause suicide and acts of violence."

The demonstration will call for the release of the types of drugs given to accused killer John Odgren, 16, and the name of the doctor who prescribed them [emph. added]. Odgren, who suffers from a mild form of autism, was taking several undisclosed medications when he reportedly stabbed Alenson three times in a school bathroom.

Dismissal of Scientology's critics. Castagna "acknowleges, however, there will always be critics of anything related to his church," Abruzzo tells us. In a sidebar, meanwhile, a Scientology official calls allegations that another Boston literacy program was a Scientology front "exaggerated tabloid claims." This statement goes unchallenged.

A recycled lede from yesterday. Again, Brookline resident Laura Creedonekhator talks about how great the Boston Scientology Volunteer Ministry has been for her autistic son, Jake.

This is truly bizarre stuff. I'll be contacting Boston Now to ask about Abruzzo's reportage, and I'll post whatever response I get here.

6/12/2007 11:21:33 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [10] |  

I'm all for Boston Now doing some funky local coverage in order to compete with Metro (and the Herald, and the Globe). But when I say "funky local coverage," I don't mean "apologias for Scientology."

Unfortunately, that's what "Another side of Scientology" is. The article, by Boston Now correspondent Kimberly Abruzzo, is an homage to the good work done at Scientology's Volunteer Ministry in Roxbury. Abruzzo notes in passing that kids learning to read at the Volunteer Ministry brush up against the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, but her focus is just how super the Volunteer Ministry is.  Check out the closing grafs, which quote Laura Creedonekhator of Brookline, who says the Volunteer Ministry has been great for her autistic son:

Creedonekhator said she found no overlap between the church and its tutoring methods.

"In the time I have been here I have seen nothing but positive reinforcement--they have boundaries," she said. "There's no 'pounce on you and reform you.' Its [sic] completely different from what everyone thinks when they hear of Tom Cruise and aliens."

Now, there's nothing wrong with Abruzzo quoting a satisfied customer. But couldn't she have given readers a better sense of why, exactly, people might find the Volunteer Ministry problematic? Just to create some semblance of balance?

It's not hard to find appropriate fodder. Google "Scientology tutoring," and the ninth result is a 2006 Der Spiegel article titled "Suspicious Tutoring." Here's a relevant section:

German experts on sects are now warning that the organization, which spans the globe, is currently making a big effort to infiltrate the German education market. Even the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has noticed these activities: At the recent presentation of the Constitution Report for 2005, Scientology was mentioned as establishing itself very conspicuously in "youth work."

I'd say that's relevant.

What makes this especially interesting is that the online title of Abruzzo's article is "The other side of Scientology, Part 1 [emphasis added]. It'll be interesting to see Part 2.

6/11/2007 2:43:52 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [4] |  

Say you run a major metropolitan daily. The day after the Sopranos ends forever, where do you put your write-up?

Some possibilities: front page above the fold, like the Globe? Bottom of the front page, like the Times? Or tucked back on C1, like the Post?

6/11/2007 10:53:40 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [3] |  

In my discussion of the Herald ed page's leftward shift this week, I mention the "sundry B-list conservative columnists who grace the opinion page most days."

Yesterday, a Media Log reader took vigorous issue with this description, noting that the Herald gives its readers George Will, Charles Krauthammer, Robert Novak, and Bill O'Reilly. In other words: Who you calling B-list, fool?

It's a fair question--and in retrospect, my characterization was too harsh. O'Reilly is inherently B-list, but Will, Krauthammer and Novak are all marquee names. I confess that my low esteem for the Herald's weaker conservative columnists--including Star Parker, Jay Ambrose, and Holly Robichaud--got the better of me.

That said, a question and a comment:

1. Word on the street is that Robichaud won't be writing her Herald column anymore. So who should the Herald replace her with? I nominate Jonah Goldberg.

2. My too-damning description was NOT meant to encompass Wayne Woodlief or Brett Arends, both of whom I regard as nonpartisan and quite good.

6/8/2007 11:42:32 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [3] |  

Is the Herald's editorial page tacking to the left?

And for the love of God, why is it so difficult to get a Charlie Card?!?

6/6/2007 9:08:08 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [3] |  

Dear Boston Globe,

One of your staffers, Charlie Pierce, just wrote a terrific item for Slate on the parallels (good and bad) between LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

Would it be possible to get some of this stuff into the Globe itself? Because "Pierced" doesn't really showcase the man's talents.

Thanks,

Adam

6/5/2007 5:27:34 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [2] |  

Wondering what the Massachusetts Cable Choice and Competition Act means for you? Check out Dan Kennedy's thoughtful write-up over at Media Nation.

Then, when you're done, take a look at the following. Don't be misled--I'm not providing this video to say that Dan's concerns are off base. Quite the contrary: when I lived in Melrose and the local cable-access station would broadcast anything involving these two guys, Quincy and Reno, I invariably ended up glued to the TV. I'd never seen anything like it.

6/4/2007 3:27:22 PM by Adam Reilly | Comments [0] |  

Judging from local coverage of the flap over President Jack Wilson's plan to remake the University of Massachusetts, you'd think it's all about process--i.e.,  Wilson's failure to seek approval from the broader UMass community. That's the message in today's Globe column by Adrian Walker. And it was the gist of an editorial in yesterday's Herald. (Walker thinks concerns about process are reasonable; the Herald's ed page doesn't.)

Process is certainly an issue. But the press seems be ignoring another major concern: there's no reason to think that Wilson's "One university" vision (which he may be backing away from) will help UMass compete with the nation's great public universities.

Put simply, that's not how the best public universities tend to work. The University of Michigan is great because of the Ann Arbor campus, not because of Flint. UNC-Chapel Hill is outstanding; UNC-Greensboro isn't. UC-Berkeley has Ivy League-caliber students; UC-Merced doesn't. And so on.

Why hasn't the Boston media picked up on this? I blame the whole "Hub of the Universe" thing.

6/1/2007 9:49:05 AM by Adam Reilly | Comments [5] |