Even in the cutthroat world of daily newspapers, every now and then the mouse does a mitzvah for the lion.
So it was with the Boston Herald yesterday (tip o’ the pixel to the Missus).
Wait, what?
The feisty local tabloid is actually promoting the Boston Globe’s marquee moment?
Alert the media!
Leave a Comment » | 
Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Spotlight, the Missus | 
Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
From our Mish-Math desk
On the face of it, one of the local dailies has trouble with numbers today.
City to pay lawyer in Teamsters’ case $625 an hour
The defense attorney hired by Mayor Martin J. Walsh to represent his administration in a federal investigation of a union’s alleged extortion scheme will be paid $625 an hour, according to a contract released Friday.
That rate is nearly three times what the city usually pays outside lawyers.
Lawyers in Teamster probe to get $910 an hour
The private legal team hired by Mayor Martin J. Walsh to investigate City Hall in the wake of the federal Teamsters extortion probe will be paid $910 an hour, according to the contract.
So what doesn’t add up here? Actually, it’s what does add up that accounts for the discrepancy. From the feisty local tabloid:
Attorney Brian T. Kelly, a former federal prosecutor who helped convict mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, will be paid $625 an hour while his associate will earn $285 an hour, a copy of the contract obtained by the Herald states.
That’s the second graf in the Herald. The Globe mentions it in the ninth. But the stately local broadsheet has info on other costly city contracts, so let’s call it a draw.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Brian T. Kelly, James "Whitey" Bulger, Marty Walsh, Teamster probe | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
Interesting Page One compare ‘n’ contrast in the local dailies about yesterday’s Grill on the Hill.
Looks like the Boston Globe and Boston Herald saw two different Congressional hearings yesterday. Also different: the feisty local tabloid has no news report on the kabuki that took place during the proceedings of the House Selective Reality Committee on Benghazi.
If you’re keeping score at home, that’s two columns – one by Kimberly Atkins, the other from Adriana Cohen – and one analysis piece from Chris Cassidy. Oh, yes – and an editorial headlined “Hillary’s blame game.”
(To be fair graf goes here)
To be fair, the Herald is not exactly Boston’s paper of record. But an actual news report might have been nice.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Adriana Cohen, Benghazi hearing, Chris Cassidy, Grill on the Hill, Hillary Clinton, House Selective Reality Committee on Benghazi, Kimberly Atkins, Trey Gowdy | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
From our Walt Whitman desk
The Boston Herald made its own page 2 today with this sort of newsish story.
Herald honored as ‘Innovator of the Year’
PALO ALTO, Calif. — The Boston Herald was named “Innovator of the Year” yesterday after a vote of a joint conference of the Associated Press Media Editors and American Society of News Editors at Stanford University.
The coveted APME innovation award recognized the Herald for “its innovative platform called Boston Herald Radio that is fully integrated with its print, online and video divisions.”“Innovator of the Year is a prestigious national award that speaks to a news organization’s innovative and creative approaches to reach their audience,” said Joe Hight, a member of APME’s executive committee and awards program chair. “The Boston Herald shows it is a leader in the country by winning this award. Boston Herald Radio is not only innovative but practical.
That’s six “innovations” if you’re keeping score at home.
Of course what’s most innovative about BHR, as we call it here at the Global Worldwide Headquarters, is the platform it provides for cross- and self-promotion. But why get technical about it on such a happy occasion?
Instead, hearty congratulations to the firsty local tabloid.
Really.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: American Society of News Editors, APME, Associated Media Press Editors, Boston Herald, Boston Herald Radio, first local tabloid, Innovator of the Year, Joe Hight, Walt Whitman | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
The hardreading staff is keenly aware that the stately local broadsheet has lots of pages to wade through every day, but still . . .
From today’s Names column:
‘Ambassador’ Brady’s timing is just right at TAG Heuer event
Tom Brady was introduced as new “brand ambassador” for luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer at an event in New York this week. What does that mean exactly? Apparently, the Pats QB will be appearing in the company’s upcoming “Don’t Crack Under Pressure” ad campaign.
Apparently?
Yesterday’s Boston Globe, A5.
Memo to Mark Shanahan and Meredith Goldstein:
TAG (Heuer). You’re it.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Don't Crack Under Pressure, Mark Shanahan, Meredith Goldstein, Names, TAG Heuer, Tom Brady | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
The feisty local tabloid has two MBTA-related stories pretty much to itself today.
First, Kimberly Atkins’ column on an advertising rumpus that’s shadowed the T for two years now.
T ad issue may merit court’s consideration
Free-speech dispute on Supreme’s radar
WASHINGTON — A free-speech dispute over political ads in MBTA buses, trains and stations is likely headed for the U.S. Supreme Court and could have far-reaching effects on
paid messages on public property.
The case stems from 2013, when the MBTA agreed to post paid ads from pro-Palestinian group Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine that read: “4.7 million Palestinians are classified by the U.N. as refugees.” But the T then rejected the American Freedom Defense Initiative’s ad, submitted in response, which read: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”
So far, as Atkins reports, “[t]wo federal courts had backed the MBTA’s decision to reject the AFDI ad, under its policy barring ‘disparaging’ or ‘demeaning’ messages.”
Prior to those two decisions, the MBTA’s batting average in ad dustups was well below the Mendoza Line, as the hardreading staff noted two years ago. And Atkins also writes that “[i]n New York and Philadelphia, by contrast, courts have ordered transit agencies to run paid ads they had rejected, including one that claimed Muslims believe ‘killing Jews is worship.'”
So who knows if it even gets to the Supremes, and who knows how they’ll lean.
But we’re guessing the MBTA loses this one too.
Elsewhere in today’s Herald, there’s this news from the T’s Ghost of Winter Past.
Scott bows out of bid for NTSB post
President Obama has withdrawn his nomination of former MBTA chief Beverly Scott to the National Transportation Safety Board, abruptly ending her controversial bid to the $155,000-a-year post, the Herald has learned.
Obama officially rescinded her nomination yesterday, according to a White House document viewed by the Herald. A White House spokesman said last night Scott requested that her nomination be withdrawn “due to personal reasons related to her family.”
Efforts to reach Scott were unsuccessful.
That’s a surprise, eh?
(To be fair graf goes here)
To be fair, today’s Boston Globe does have a squib (via the State House News Service) about Scott, although it tells a slightly different story.
Huh. Maybe we need Scott herself to come forward as the tiebreaker.
Yeah – that’s coming just like a Riverside train.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: American Freedom Defense Initiative, AP, Beverly Scott, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Cannabis News, Ghost of Winter Past, Israel, Joe Pesaturo, Kimberly Atkins, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, MBTA, Mendoza Line, Palestine, Pamela Geller, State House News Service, The Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine, Titan, transit advertising | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
Why anyone would pay the slightest bit of attention to pill-pushing has-been Scott Brown is a mystery to the hardreading staff.
Why any newspaper would put him on its front page is an even bigger one.
But then, we’re talking about the Boston Herald here.
The flirty local tabloid has long carried a torch for the Accidental Senator, and today’s piece just fans the flame.
Brown: Patrick ‘a joke’ as VP candidate
Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown mocked the idea of a Deval Patrick veep run on a Joe Biden presidential ticket as a “joke” yesterday, but was quick to add he’d love to see the Democrats go with it.
“Patrick is a joke, please,” Brown told the Herald yesterday after hosting a meet-and-greet for GOP contender Carly Fiorina at his home in Rye, N.H. “I hope that he runs, that way it will be a definite loss.”
The offhanded dismissal drew rebukes from Granite State and Bay State Democrats, who insisted the two-term Massachusetts governor would bolster their party’s slate.
Or charge $7500 a day for running.
The only thing more ridiculous than the Herald’s news judgment is Carly Fiorina’s political judgment, which just produced this knee-slapper on the Herald website.
Fiorina would consider Charlie Baker, Scott Brown for posts
Both Gov. Charlie Baker and former Sen. Scott Brown could have positions within Republican presidential contender Carly Fiorina’s White House administration, the former
Hewlett-Packard CEO told Boston Herald Radio this morning.
“Certainly Charlie Baker is someone that should be considered,” Fiorina said on “Boston Herald Drive” this morning. “I am looking for people who are not afraid to go in and actually challenge the status quo.”
Fiorina added that Brown would also be on her “long list” of potential hires. Brown and his wife, Gail Huff, hosted an event for Fiorina yesterday at his home in Rye, N.H.
Her “long list,” eh?
Hey, Scott ‘n’ Gail: That’s Carly’s bread-and-butter letter for your hospitality. Which is to say, just a formality. Don’t get too excited.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Accidental Senator, AdvoCare, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Herald Radio, bread-and-butter letter, Carly Fiorina, Charlie Baker, flirty local tabloid, Gail Huff, Hewlett-Packard, Inside Track, Olivia Nuzzi, Scott Brown, Stephanie Ebbert, The Daily Beast | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
The Boston Globe unveiled a new look this morning, one that appears very much like a knockoff of the Weekend Wall Street Journal. (Sorry, no WSJ e-paper, so you’ll have to spring for one yourself, or – god forbid – take our word for it.)
Brave New Globe, Page One:
The paper we received had more of a gray banner, but then again the whole page was kind of washed out compared to the e-paper. Regardless, we were happy to see this helpful note from Globe Editor Brian McGrory:
Okay . . .
So Metro, Nation, World, Business, and Opinion are all smushed together in the A section, which has a bouncier feel than the weekday paper.
The new Good Life section is pure Wall Street Journalism.
The hardreading staff tries never to pass judgment on first impressions.
But you’re certainly welcome to.
3 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Brian McGrory, new Saturday design, Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journalism, WSJr | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town 