Author Archives: Campaign Outsider

Dead Blogging The Massachusetts Gubernatorial Debate

The bell rang last night on WBZ-TV for the real opening round of the Massachusetts governor’s race (up to now it’s been mostly about money and media). The main event was Gov. Deval Patrick (D-We’re Number Whatever!) vs. GOP challenger … Continue reading

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New York Times Magazine Has Rare Impact

The New York Times Magazine spends most of its time deconstructing politics, science, culture and society in a way that seems designed to induce terminal bouts of torpidity. But Sunday’s New York Times Magazine cover was different: The cover story … Continue reading

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All The Opinion That’s Fit To Print

Arthur Brisbane, the new public editor at the New York Times, has gotten busy in a hurry. First he took on Times alpha-female Gina Kolata in this web post. Then, in Sunday’s dead-tree Times, he took on the entire paper. … Continue reading

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Ad o’ the Day (??? Edition)

Last Thursday’s New York Times included a two-page ad (cost: at least $500,000) that showed two dogs (I’m a cat person, but I think one of them is an Akita and the other is a mutt) along with the headline: … Continue reading

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Better Late Than Never For Globe Obit

When Joseph A. Sciacca Sr. died at the age of 82 on August 23rd, the Boston Herald promptly noted his passing. Understandable, given that Joseph A. Sciacca Sr. was the father of Boston Herald editor in chief Joe Sciacca Jr. … Continue reading

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Chile’s Floyd Collins?

While shooting around on the outdoor court across from Brookline’s Pierce School, the hardworking staff caught a BBC Radio piece about the bustling community (vendors welcome!) forming around the dig site of the Chile mine rescue. (Can’t find a link … Continue reading

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Bad Massachusetts Art, Good News Coverage

Friday New York Times headline: Loving the Lowbrow (It Has Its Own Hall of Fame) Nut graf: With its U.F.O.’s, suicidal clowns, smiling genitals and other shocking, humorous or bleakly sentimental imagery, “bad art” — or “vernacular painting” and “found … Continue reading

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It’s Good To Live In A Two-Daily Town (Coakley/Levy Edition)

Thursday’s Boston Globe ran a Page One story about the outcome of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s investigation into the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s kid-glove handling of its General Hospital-style drama – chief executive Paul Levy’s sweetheart hiring and raising … Continue reading

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Idiotic Sentence o’ the Day (pat. pending)

From a Thursday New York Times piece on Alaska arch-rivals former governor Sarah Palin and lame-duck Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Tea Bagged): They represent very different versions of Alaska. Ms. Palin grew up in Wasilla, where development dead-ends and some of … Continue reading

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Where Newspapers Go To Die (Deseret News Edition)

Associated Press piece (via Wednesday’s Boston Globe): Deseret News in UT cutting newsroom by nearly half SALT LAKE CITY — The Deseret News, Utah’s oldest daily newspaper, said Tuesday it will cut nearly half of its staff and consolidate operations … Continue reading

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