Boston Globe On A Page One Headline Tear

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Campaign Outsider

First there was this shoutout from Jim Romenesko for Saturday’s Boston Globe front-page headline:

BOSTON GLOBE HEADLINE ‘HAS TO BE ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST’

“Admittedly, I’m biased, as both a Thomas Pynchon idolator and Globe staffer(though I had nothing to do this hed and don’t know who did),” writes Mark Feeney. “But this hed for our two p. 1 stories today on the Russian meteorite has to be one of the year’s best. ‘A screaming comes across the sky’ is great in and of itself, being both accurate and vivid — and as any Pynchon fan can tell you it’s also the first sentence of his masterpiece, ‘Gravity’s Rainbow.’”

- Boston Globe, Feb. 16

– Boston Globe, Feb. 16

-- First lines of Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow"

— First lines of Thomas Pynchon’s “Gravity’s Rainbow”

Then came this Boston Sunday Globe Page One headline . . .

Read the rest at It’s Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Marco Rubio: I Got Your Water Bottle Right Here

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Campaign Outsider

Memo to all those weisenheimers who’ve been water boarding Marco Rubio over that Poland Spring moment in his State of the Union response:

Who’s got the last laugh now?

From BuzzFeed:

Marco Rubio Has Sold More Than 3100 Water Bottles, Raising $100,000

When Marco Rubio paused to take a sip from a water bottle during his response to the State of the Union this week, it become an instant viral sensation. The Florida Senator has now capitalized on the moment to raise more than $100,000 for his Reclaim America political action committee by selling branded water bottles.

A source close to Rubio tells BuzzFeed that the water bottles, which were sold on the senator’s PAC website to anyone who makes a donation of $25 or more, sold like hotcakes. In the period since they went on sale Wednesday, more than 3,100 of the PAC’s “Marco Rubio Water Bottles” have been sold.

“Send the liberal detractors a message that not only does Marco Rubio inspire you…he hydrates you too,” the donation page reads.

Hydrate that, liberal detractors.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Marty Baron Corrects The Record

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Campaign Outsider

In response to this earlier post by the hardworking (if at times misguided) staff, Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron sent this:

John,

Your facts are wrong.

I didn’t end the ombudsman column. Richard Chacon was the last ombudsman. He left in 2006 to join the Deval Patrick campaign. He reported directly to the publisher, and the publisher made the decision on whether to replace him or not. He decided not to.

The notion that I eliminated the ombudsman upon my arrival at the Globe is obviously false. We had an ombudsman from the time of my arrival until 2006, when the publisher decided not to replace Chacon.

I’m hardly allergic to press or (self) criticism. I do think the criticism, however, should be based on fact.

And, by the way, this decision at the Post isn’t mine to make either. It’s a collective decision involving several people, including the publisher and the editorial page editor.

Marty

We – and the record – stand corrected. Apologies to Marty Baron for the errors of fact.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Herald’s Carr Puts Ex-Chelsea Housing Thief – Er, Chief – In Jail

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Campaign Outsider

Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr really wants to see former Chelsea Housing Director Michael E. McLaughlin thrown in the sneezer.

From todays piece of work:

Pension pitch; drop the Mike!

Memo to the Chelsea Retirement Board: Don’t even think about it.

Don’t even consider giving the about-to-plead-guilty-to-felonies Mike McLaughlin a pension. He shouldn’t get even a “reduced” one of $128,000 or so that he would have been eligible for if he’d played by the rules, as impossible as that would be for the lifelong payroll patriot.

This may seem like a scenario not even worth discussing. But we are, after all, talking about Chelsea, Damascus on the Mystic. This is a city where McLaughlin, as head of the Chelsea Housing Authority, was for years able to pay himself an annual salary as high as $360,000 while telling his board that he was actually making $164,000.

Right. And McLaughlin’s been nailed pretty good for it by US Attorney Carmen Ortiz. So, Carr concludes . . .

Read the rest at It’s Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Local Editorials: Carnival Cruise Damage Control No Triumph

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Campaign Outsider

Saturday’s local dailies both editorialized about the Carnival Cruise to Nightmare, but they had very – wait for it – different criticisms about the cruise line’s response.

Boston Globe editorial:

2013-02-13T041707Z_01_ABI113_RTRMDNP_3_NBACruise ship owner: Facing the Heat

While passengers on the Carnival Triumph were enduring tropical weather without any toilets or air conditioning, and sleeping on deck in improved tents made out of laundry, Carnival CEO Micky Arison was also paying attention to the heat — the Miami Heat, at whose basketball game he was spotted courtside on Tuesday. Arison is no stranger to the Heat — he owns the team — but he’s likely to face some for failing to make a show of concern for the 3,200 passengers stranded for five days at sea . . .

From the Boston Herald editorial . . .

Read the rest at It’s Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Marty Baron Strikes Again: No Ombudsman For You!

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Campaign Outsider

Newly minted Washington Post (and former Boston Globe) executive editor Marty Baron is apparently disappearing another ombudsman position.

From today’s WaPo column by ombudsman Patrick B. Pexton (tip o’ the pixel to Politico’s Playbook):

patrick-pexton-114x80The Post’s last ombudsman?

It is possible that I’ll be The Washington Post’s last independent ombudsman and that this chair will empty at the conclusion of my two-year term Feb. 28. If so, that will end nearly 43 years of this publication having enough courage and confidence to employ a full-time reader representative and critic.

Officially, no final decision has been made. Discussions are underway within The Post about how to respond to reader complaints and concerns without an independent ombudsman.

But I think the tea leaves are clear. For cost-cutting reasons, for modern media-technology reasons and because The Post, like other news organizations, is financially weaker and hence even more sensitive to criticism, my bet is that this position will disappear.

Not to mention that Marty Baron is allergic to media (and self) criticism.

Exhibit A: Baron’s track record at the Globe.

Starting in 1995 Mark Jurkowitz was the Globe’s ombudsman for two years, then its media critic for eight more. Baron restaffed neither position upon his arrival in 2001 and Jurkowitz’s departure in 2005.

So WaPo readers hoping for an advocate at the paper: Don’t hold your breath.

Note: Marty Baron responded here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

‘Sno Letup At The Boston Herald

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Campaign Outsider

As with snowflakes, no two Boston Herald high dudgeons are alike.

Exhibit Umpteen: The feisty local tabloid’s snowstorm jihad this past week.

Start with Sunday’s relatively straightforward front page:

picture-17

Then accelerate into Wednesday’s Page One . . .

Read the rest at It’s Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Headline o’ the Day (Euclid Edition)

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Campaign Outsider

From the Weekly Standard’s review of The King of Infinite Space by David Berlinski:

Picture 1

Passes the two-point test (works literally and figuratively). Gotta love the symmetry of that.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Correction o’ the Day (Maru The YouTube Cat Edition)

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Campaign Outsider

From Friday’s New York Times:

BUSINESS DAY

The Advertising column on Tuesday, about online video commercials that promote the Litter Genie litter-box system, misstated the name of a cat that is the star of many YouTube videos. It is Maru, not Mamu.

Damn! That’s embarrassing, eh?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Blog New World At The Boston Herald (They Return Our Phone Call!!! Edition)

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Campaign Outsider

SA2-300x140

As the hardtracking staff recently noted, the Boston Herald has launched a new web feature called State of the Arts. We wrote at the time, “The feisty local tabloid’s new State of the Arts blog appears to be the paper’s entry into the commerce journalism racket,” a reference to several posts that had bylines from local arts groups.

The hardtracking staff will try to contact the Herald to ask if those last two posts are paid placements. But we don’t expect the Herald will respond, most likely because they don’t appreciate the efforts of the hardreading staff at It’s Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town.

We’re happy to report we were wrong! . . .

Read the rest at Sneak Adtack.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment