March 29, 2018
Today’s edition of the feisty local tabloid features its Red Sox 2018 Season Preview in advance of this afternoon’s Opening Day game in Tampa Bay.
The good news? Steve Buckley’s There’s still time for David Price to become beloved in Boston.
The bad news? NECN’s Fire Reported at Tropicana Field Ahead of Red Sox Opener.
The ad news? The thirsty local tabloid actually has a bunch of full-page ads in the special section. But oddly, 10 out of 11 are for auto dealerships. This is the other one ($99 for those of you keeping score at home).
Even odder, these are the only two ads that ran in Sunday’s Boston Globe Coming of Age season preview, one of which is a house ad.
In today’s edition Globe scribe Dan Shaughnessy asks, Are fans ready to embrace the Sox?
You tell us, but advertisers sure as hell don’t seem to be.
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Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Coming of Age, Dan Shaughnessy, David Price, NECN, Red Sox, Red Sox 2018 Season Preview, Steve Buckley, Tropicana Field | 
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Posted by Campaign Outsider
March 26, 2018
From our Local Dailies DisADvantage desk
First, disclosure: The hardreading staff has been a New York Giants fan since the days the team was called the New York Football Giants. (Don’t bother sending any abusive comments, splendid readers. Being a Giants fan is punishment enough itself.)
So we’re quite happy that former New England Patriot left tackle Nate Solder is Big Town bound, even at the cost of $62 million over four years, with $35 million guaranteed.
Solder’s feelings about leaving town, however, are mixed, as he mentioned in this full-page ad in yesterday’s Boston Globe.
Crosstown at the Boston Herald there was . . . nothing.
Note to Nate: Some denizens of Patriot Nation actually read the Herald. Apparently you won’t miss them – except with your ad dollars. Maybe Herald scribe Karen Guregian should take back the respectful sendoff she gave you yesterday.
Plenty left still to tackle
Solder loss leaves hole, concerns
The Patriots have a question mark in a place no team wants a question mark. They’re below par in the one position they can’t afford to be, especially with Tom Brady the linchpin to their success.
Uncertainty with Brady’s blind side protector? That’s not been a major storyline heading into a season for quite some time. Left tackle has been a strength for nearly two decades, from Matt Light to Nate Solder.
For the Herald, advertisers present a different kind of blind side: They don’t even see the thirsty local tabloid.
New slogan for the paper: Ad loss leaves hole, concerns.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Karen Guregian, Local Dailies DisADvantage, Nate Solder, New England Patriots, New York Football Giants, thirsty local tabloid, Tom Brady | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
March 22, 2018
Umpteenth in our never-ending series
On numerous occasions the hardreading staff has referred to a Boston Herald subscription as Biggest. Waste. Ever.
And now we’re back.
Page 3 of today’s selfie local tabloid is entirely devoted to this piece bylined “Herald Staff,” the designation routinely employed in passing off press releases as actual news.
Herald moves print production to Providence Journal
The Boston Herald is now being printed in Providence, which means our loyal customers can look forward to a more reader-friendly paper.
Beginning this week, the Herald is being printed at the The Providence Journal’s flexographic newspaper printing facility, which was North America’s first entirely flexographic printing facility when it opened in 1987. The Journal selected the flexo process because it creates a paper with vibrant color reproduction and uses an environmentally friendly, water-based ink that won’t have the paper rubbing off on your hands.
More reader-friendly?
Here’s what this reader got on today’s Scoreboard pages.
The redoubtable Dan Kennedy at Media Nation called this one several days ago: “I’m hearing reports from inside the Herald that the switch will require deadlines so early that evening sports stories may not make the print edition.”
Bingo.
(To be sure graf goes here)
To be sure, the Herald at times gave readers the same short shrift when the Boston Globe printed it.
(Two be sure graf goes here)
Also to be sure, the e-Edition of the spotty local tabloid did have yesterday’s results.
But we’re shelling out good money for the print edition while getting less news for the buck all the time.
So, Heraldniks, we say this as you celebrate your new printing setup: Not a providential beginning. Not by a long shot.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Biggest. Waste. Ever., Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Dan Kennedy, GateHouse Media, home subscription, I’m hearing reports from inside the Herald that the switch will require deadlines so early that evening sports stories may not make the print edition., Media Nation, One-Daily Town, Providence Journal, selfie local tabloid, spotty local tabloid | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
February 22, 2018
Well, this is not encouraging.
In today’s Boston Herald, Inside Track gal Olivia Vanni dishes about author Andrew Morton’s appearance at the Boston Public Library last night to flog his new book about Wallis Simpson, Wallis in Love.
In the course of the evening, Morton’s attention turned to the subject of his next book: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s fiancée.
As it appeared in the print edition:
Really? “Gave up the thrown”? Twice?
Earlier today it was the same in the online version.
“Edward gave up the thrown. Meghan’s given up ‘The Tig,’ ” said Morton, who spoke at the Boston Public Library about his newly released book, “Wallis in Love: The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy” last night.
“In this modern age, that’s quite the sacrifice,” he jokingly added. “The king giving up the thrown was a mere bauble compared to her voluntarily giving up her Instagram account.”
But now it’s been fixed.
“Edward gave up the throne. Meghan’s given up ‘The Tig,’ ” said Morton, who spoke at the Boston Public Library about his newly released book, “Wallis in Love: The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy” last night.
“In this modern age, that’s quite the sacrifice,” he jokingly added. “The king giving up the throne was a mere bauble compared to her voluntarily giving up her Instagram account.”
(To be sure graf goes here)
To be sure, it’s just one little mistake, so why make a federal case out of it, right?
It does make one wonder, though: Can the shaky local tabloid really afford to lose 25% of its already skeletal staff, as new owner Digital First Media plans to do?
Feels like not.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Andrew Morton, Boston Herald, Boston Public Library, Digital First Media, Inside Track, Meghan Markle, Olivia Vanni, Prince Harry, The Tig, Wallis Simpson | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
February 15, 2018
For the past several months, the Boston Globe has been playing catch-up to the Herald in covering the sale of the feisty local tabloid.
Today the Globe caught up.
Under the unusual byline “Globe Staff,” the stately local broadsheet reported the details of yesterday’s bake sale.
Bidding for Herald jumped by millions at auction
Digital First Media is poised to become the new owner of the Boston Herald after besting competitors with multiple higher bids during a bankruptcy auction Tuesday that netted nearly $12 million, according to newly filed court documents.
A transcript of the auction held in the office of Herald law firm Brown Rudnick revealed that Digital First opened with a bid valued at around $7.6 million — higher than the offers already in place from two other competitors, GateHouse Media and Revolution Capital Group.
After GateHouse countered Digital First with a slightly higher offer, Revolution Capital dropped out, leaving the two competitors to trade bids several times until Digital First’s final offer proved too rich for GateHouse, according to a transcript of the auction filed with bankruptcy court in Delaware.
And Digital’s final offer? “The Denver-based company, which owns daily and weekly newspapers in Colorado, California, Massachusetts, and several other states, prevailed with a final offer of $9.6 million in cash, $1 million in accrued paid time off to employees, and another $1.4 million in assumed liabilities.”
Crosstown at the Herald, reporter Brian Dowling didn’t have those numbers, but he did spotlight what exactly that breakdown means.
This year, the pension, severance and retirement payments to employees were estimated to reach $3.5 million, according to court papers. The pension, severance and retirement accounts had accrued nearly $25 million in liabilities when the company filed for bankruptcy.
Obviously $2.4 million isn’t gonna put much of a dent in that. Dowling also reported that Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is “urging Herald ownership to strike a deal to save workers’ pensions.”
All due respect, Mistah Mayah, the corn is off the cob – unless the bankruptcy judge steps in to change the deal. We’ll find out tomorrow.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Brown Rudnick, Digital First Media, GateHouse Media, Herald auction, Marty Walsh, Pat Purcell, Revolution Capital Group, stately local broadsheet | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
February 14, 2018
Eat your heart out, Mort Zuckerman.
Back in September, the real estate magnate sold the legendary New York Daily News to Tronc (rhymes with bonk) for exactly $1 – 50¢ less than the price of the paper’s Sunday edition.
(To be fair graf goes here)
To be fair, Tronc did assume $30 million in operational and pension liabilities, but hey – a dollar’s a dollar, yeah?
Boston Herald owner Pat Purcell, on the other hand, scooped up a helluva lot more in yesterday’s bake sale of the shaky local tabloid.
From Brian Dowling’s piece in today’s edition of the soldy local tabloid:
Digital First Media enters $11.9M top bid for Boston Herald
Digital First Media won the Boston Herald in a 5-hour bankruptcy auction with a top $11.9 million bid that all but settles who will carry the news organization into the next chapter of the city’s media history.
The newspaper company, which operates as Media News Group and owns hundreds of publications across the country, including the Denver Post, bested two other suitors — GateHouse Media and Revolution Capital. Digital First also owns the Lowell Sun and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise in Massachusetts.
But that doesn’t mean it’s all roses and lollipops at Fargo Street. As the Boston Globe’s Jon Chesto reports, Digital First Media “has earned a reputation for relentless cost-cutting” – not a good omen for the Herald rank and file.
And, as our kissin’ cousins at One-Daily Town recently noted, Digital First just ditched the Sentinel & Enterprise’s brick-and-mortar home for a “virtual newsroom.”
So maybe you Heraldniks might want to bring some of your personal items home.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Brian Dowling, Denver Post, Digital First Media, Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise, GateHouse Media, Jon Chesto, Lowell Sun, Mort Zuckerman, New York Daily News, One-Daily Town, Pat Purcell, Revolution Capital Group, soldy local tabloid, Tronc | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
February 5, 2018
As the hardreading staff noted the other day, the Boston Herald has of late increased the amount of its “sponsored content” while decreasing the legibility of its disclosure.
Now the Boston Globe apparently wants to join the stealthy local tabloid in profiting from ads in sheep’s clothing, running this on A12 of today’s edition. (Here’s the digital version on the Globe website.)
(To be sure graf goes here)
To be sure, sharp-eyed observers will pick up that it’s actually an ad, but not everyone is as perceptive as you, splendid reader. For some, anything with a headline and a byline qualifies as editorial content. Which is exactly what stealth marketing counts on.
Regardless, we’re guessing that the revenue-impaired Globe and the bankrupt Herald will increasingly turn toward this sleight-of-ad as time goes on.
We hope, of course, to be proven wrong.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: ads in sheep's clothing, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Herald Radio, Chuck Leddy, Isenberg, Isenberg UMass Amherst, Local Dailies DisADvantage, Massachusetts State Lottery, Rigby & Peller, sleight-of-ad, sneaky local tabloid, sponsored content, stealthy local tabloid, thirsty local tabloid | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
February 3, 2018
The sneaky local tabloid just keeps getting sneakier.
As the hardreading staff has noted on multiple occasions, the Boston Herald’s publication of stealth marketing (a.k.a. “sponsored content”) has steadily become more and more – ah – stealthy, as the labeling of same grows smaller and smaller.
(Pop quiz: Is that an oxymoron, or are we?)
For example, here’s how sponsored content for intimate apparel retailer Rigby & Peller was labeled in March of 2016.
Then there’s this advertorial for the Massachusetts State Lottery from a year ago.
And now comes this from yesterday’s edition of the stealthy local tabloid. (Inexplicable Little Green 1 at no extra charge.)
Do we detect a pattern emerging here?
All of those ads in sheep’s clothing originated in interviews on Boston Herald Radio, which has up to several listeners but which more importantly provides the Herald with a steady stream of stealth marketing opportunities.
Given the Local Dailies DisADvantage the thirsty local tabloid labors under, that just might be the best it can do.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: ads in sheep's clothing, Boston Herald, Boston Herald Radio, Local Dailies DisADvantage, Massachusetts State Lottery, Rigby & Peller, sneaky local tabloid, sponsored content, stealthy local tabloid, thirsty local tabloid | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
January 25, 2018
From our Local Dailies DisADvantage desk
The other week it was Nike plastering Kyrie Irving all over the Boston Globe and rejecting the Boston Herald.
Adding insult to financial injury, Ashton Kutcher’s two kids do the same today in this full-page salute to their Mom for being chosen Hasty Pudding’s Woman of the Year.
Two things:
One, do they really call their mother by her first name?
And two, we’re not ashamed to say we had to Google Wyatt and Dimitri to figure out who ran the ad.
As for the thirsty local tabloid, maybe Mila Kunis could carry a copy in Hasty Pudding’s traditional parade, which starts in roughly ten minutes despite multiple protests by students and feminists.
Via Google:
Missed by a Mila, huh?
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Ashton Kutcher, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Dimitri, Hasty Pudding, Kyrie Irving, Local Dailies DisADvantage, Mila Kunis, Nike, Woman of the Year, Wyatt | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
January 12, 2018
So, to recap:
On Wednesday, Boston Herald reporter Brian Dowling had this piece in the selfie local tabloid.
Herald execs’ pay disclosed in bankruptcy filings
Premium salaries as bankruptcy neared
The Herald paid substantial salaries to its publisher and top executive as the newspaper’s finances grew dire and 
management directed the company to a bankruptcy sale, according to court papers.
Patrick J. Purcell, the Herald’s publisher, took home $970,092 in the year prior to the company’s Chapter 11 filing in Delaware on Dec. 8, according to papers in the ongoing bankruptcy case. His compensation included fringe benefits of a golf membership and use of a company vehicle.
Among others, Jeff Jacoby, late of the shaky local tabloid, applauded the paper for running the story (tip o’ the pixel to the redoubtable Dan Kennedy’s Media Nation).
Now comes today’s piece by the Boston Globe’s Kevin Cullen, in which he whacks Purcell and waxes nostalgic about the feisty local tabloid.
Herald mogul takes a hit
It was the perfect Boston Herald story: Greedy entrepreneur runs business into the ground, walks away to his myriad mansions with pockets lined with millions while working stiffs are left holding the bag.
Remarkably, that story, which ran in Wednesday’s Herald pretty much straight, without typical tabloid excess, was about the publisher of the Boston Herald, Pat Purcell. It noted that in the year leading up to the Herald filing for bankruptcy and being put up for sale, Purcell was paying himself an annual salary of almost a million dollars, while doling out some $265,000 in salaries among his three daughters.
If you ask me, the best argument for wanting the Herald to survive was on robust display when reporter Brian Dowling wrote that story and the Herald courageously printed it.
(Spoiler alert: Purcell does not come across as a sympathetic character in the piece. But Herald staffers do.)
Cullen’s column a far cry from this mash note Globe owner John Henry published when Purcell first announced the sale last month.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Pat Purcell’s service to Boston
Patrick J. Purcell, longtime owner and publisher of the Boston Herald, is someone who has spent most of his adult life tending to one of the most essential tasks of our democracy: leading civic conversations that are sometimes contentious but are invariably important. While his efforts on behalf of journalism for the city are well known, the personal impact he has had on so many over decades isn’t as well known.
Boston knows Pat as the driven media executive who long ago bought the Herald from Rupert Murdoch and infused it with a very strong vision for his adopted city. But he is also unfailingly described as a loyal friend and devoted family man, who landed here after a colorful career in New York and became a Bostonian to the core.
Which, apparently, means greedy and heartless.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Herald, Brian Dowling, Chapter 11, Dan Kennedy, Jeff Jacoby, John Henry, Media Nation, Pat Purcell, selfie local tabloid, shaky local tabloid | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town 