Cherokees and Chick-fil-A Edition

September 5, 2012

From our Why the Boston Herald Is Essential desk

Exhibit A:

Cherokees use GOP video to target Warren claims

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Massachusetts Republicans looking to overshadow Elizabeth Warren’s turn in the national spotlight are releasing a video with Cherokees at a nearby reservation saying her heritage claims are “slapping Native Americans in the face.”

“That’s not right at all. She is lying to the American public by running for public office and claiming to be of a race that she is not. If she is claiming that she is Native American, prove it,” says John Grant, a resident of Cherokee, N.C., in a GOP video.

The nearly two-minute Web video was filmed in Cherokee long before the Herald interviewed American Indian delegates Monday who also expressed outrage about Warren’s claims to Indian heritage. The Harvard Law School professor dismissed the delegates’ request that she meet with them and discuss her background.

What’s so essential about this story? It’s not like no one else covered this story (see here).

It’s just that the Globe didn’t.

Exhibit B:

Mayor won’t bite on offer of Chick-fil-A sandwich

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino can’t decide whether to back Scott Brown or Elizabeth Warren, but he is sure about one thing: He will never endorse a Chick-fil-A sandwich, even if it’s in front of his nose.

Menino, who led the protest against the fast-food chain because of the CEO’s stance against gay marriage, is staying in a hotel building in Charlotte that includes a dreaded Chick-fil-A just downstairs from the hotel lobby.

So the Truth Squad thought that would be a good opportunity to make a peace offering to the mayor — a No. 1 combo meal sandwich on a whole-wheat bun.

Unsurprisingly, Menino not only “recoiled,” he also “actually made a face.”

Why is this story essential? Because the Globe doesn’t do stunt journalism.

 

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Scott Brown ‘Honorary Girl’ Edition

September 4, 2012

So John Walsh, the chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, really put his foot in it yesterday, yeah?

As BostonGlobe.com reported yesterday afternoon:

Mass. Democratic chair apologizes after accusing Scott Brown of trying to be ‘honorary girl’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party today apologized for saying that Senator Scott Brown tried to portray himself as “an honorary girl” by folding laundry in a TV commercial targeting women voters.

“In the excitement of getting the convention underway and getting the message out about how important it is to re-elect President Obama and elect Elizabeth Warren, I made a statement about Scott Brown that I regret,” party Chairman John Walsh said in a statement this afternoon. “I apologize for that remark.”

Walsh made his initial comment in a blistering opening statement at the first breakfast meeting of the state’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention, which kicks off [today].

Oddly, though, the piece didn’t make it into today’s print edition of the Globe.

The Herald, by contrast, splashed it all over pages two and three. Start with the news report:

Dems try to wash out ‘folding laundry’ stain

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Clothes-conscious Democratic delegates recoiled yesterday at Massachusetts Chairman John Walsh’s fumbling remark that U.S. Sen. Scott Brown was attempting to become “an honorary girl” when folding laundry in a TV commercial, saying the dig was below the belt.

“Well you know, John, that’s not a good comment. Everyone folds laundry, women and men,” said Faye Morrison, a Democratic delegate from Ayer.

Then to the obligatory Howie Carr sandblasting:

Hey, Walsh: What a load

So any male who folds towels is an “honorary girl,” or so says the corpulent chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, John Walsh.

“I mean,” Walsh said in between bites of a Krispy Kreme doughnut yesterday, “he spent a couple million dollars folding towels on TV to prove he’s an honorary girl. We appreciate that.”

I fold all the kitchen towels in my house, Fatso. Does that make me an honorary girl too? By the way, have you ever watched the president of the United States throw a baseball? Talk about honorary girls …

Well, today’s Herald is, even if the Globe ain’t.

 

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Charlotte Web Edition

September 4, 2012

The local dailies are running true to form in their coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

Boston Globe: Dutiful.

Boston Herald: Gleeful (and bountiful).

The Globe’s ramp-up to the convention in Monday’s edition:

Charlotte offers promise, pitfalls for Democrats

Democrats to play up foreign policy

Obama defends health care law

Biden says Romney too eager for war

 

Bonus points:

Union’s political power fading

 

The Herald’s ramp-up yesterday:

Gov Missing in Mass. But Finds Spotlight in N.C.

Media get VIP treatment in N.C.

Delegates vow to get down to business . . . after a little chill time

GOP pundits: Bay State liberals’ barbs really a ‘badge of honor’

For Liz, it’s personal

 

The Herald also features scattered “You Said It” reader comments, a DNC Charlotte Notebook,  and Brown’s Take, the bookend to last week’s Warren’s Take (sample here) at the GOP convention.

Advantage: Herald.

So far.

 

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Convention Wisdom Edition

September 3, 2012

After suffering through the Republican National Convention last week (Dateline: Tampa) and no doubt dreading the Democratic National Convention this week, Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby has this message for the two political parties:

Scrap the conventions

To elaborate:

The conventions, by contrast, deprived of their essential purpose, have been reduced to an exercise in mutual self-aggrandizement. The two major parties garner obsessive press attention — media organizations sent 15,000 employees to Tampa for the Republican convention — without generating any real news. The media, in turn, make a great show of being eyewitnesses to history, when all they’re really witnessing is an immense infomercial.

Why perpetuate the charade?

The Boston Herald’s Rachelle Cohen has an answer:

New stars shine in GOP galaxy

TAMPA, Fla. — The balloons have been popped, the confetti swept, Mitt Romney has departed in his newly painted presidential campaign plane and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, a prominent Romney surrogate, is predicting this convention — estimated to have cost $100 million — may be the last of its kind.

And maybe that would be OK. After all, the broadcast networks have minimized their coverage — although as it turned out Thursday night not minimized enough to save the nation the ramblings of a doddering 82-year-old actor.

But conventions aren’t just about TV. They’re about revving up the delegates, especially from those key swing states, for the tough job ahead. And they are about showcasing the party’s future stars.

Is that worth all the worthless media coverage?

You tell us.

 

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Pep Squad Smackdown Edition

September 2, 2012

Yesterday’s Boston Globe featured this fetching item in the Names column:

Bruins pick new Ice Girls

We don’t know yet who’ll be playing for the Bruins this season — assuming the NHL is able to avert a strike — but we do know who will be cheering for them. The 2012 Boston Bruins Ice Girls have been picked from among 625 applicants. Of those, 62 women were selected for auditions and 18 won spots on the team. The Ice Girls are at all B’s home games and make appearances at dozens of community events during the season.

Surprisingly, the Boston Herald had no mention – never mind photo – of the new Ice Girls. But, mindful of its status as the cheesecake factory of local newspapers, the Herald bounced back with this item in today’s Inside Track:

Tracked down: Patriots Cheerleaders

The New England Patriots [team stats] Cheerleaders hanging with fans at the siss-boom-baah squad’s 2013 Swimsuit Calendar Launch Party at CBS Scene atPatriot Place …

Hah! Exclusive coverage of the 2013 Swimsuit Calendar! With two photos!

Take that, Namesniks!

 

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Doing the McKayla Edition

August 30, 2012

From yesterday’s Boston Herald Inside Track:

Tracked down: Maria Menounos, Larry David, Rajon Rondo and more . . .

Medford homegirl Maria Menounos hanging with Olympic gymnast Mckayla Maroney on the “Extra” set in LA..

 

For once, the Track Gals (and Megan!) missed the joke.

But the Boston Globe Namesniks didn’t.

Doing the McKayla

Everywhere she goes, it seems, Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney (left) has to makes the same sour expression she famously made during the medal ceremony in London. But, now, it’s all in fun. This week, while filming a segment for “Extra,” Maroney and Medford’s Maria Menounos pursed their lips in mock disappointment.

Score one for the Boring Broadsheet.

 

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Tampa Your Enthusiasm Edition

August 29, 2012

It’s true that both local dailies are covering the Republican National Convention in Florida, but they’re hardly covering it the same way.

The Boston Globe: Dutiful.

The Boston Herald: Exuberant.

Start on Page One (via The Newseum’s Today’s Front Pages):

 

 

Words warm and combative? Hey, somebody passed their Headlines as a Second Language course.

But . . . compare and contrast the crosstown version in clear idiomatic English:

 

 

That’s more like it, eh?

As for resources devoted to convention coverage, the hardcounting staff  has the Globe with five reporters and two columnists (and Is He or Isn’t He Callum Borchers, who gets a Tampa dateline here but not here).

The Herald seems to have deployed two reporters and two columnists (and Is He or Isn’t He Peter Gelzinis, who isn’t but sounds like he is).

Beyond sheer numbers, though – and proportionally the Herald is probably neck-and-neck with the Globe – there’s a distinct enthusiasm gap between the two papers. The Herald, for example, is running this series:

Warren’s take: Wrong priorities from Brown’s party

Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is commenting on the Republican National Convention all week. Here’s her latest installment.

The opening night of the Republican Convention showed that Scott Brown’s party has the wrong priorities for Massachusetts . . .

Blah blah blah.

Wait – the Herald hired Warren to write this series? The hardreading staff is investigating.

Meanwhile, the Herald also has a UMass Lowell student (Corey Lanier, come on down!) blogging from Tampa, and a whole bunch of reader comments punctuating their coverage.

So far, the Herald is winning this bakeoff – easily.

 

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Showing Their Primary Colors Edition

August 28, 2012

The local dailies have started issuing their endorsements in advance of next Tuesday’s Massachusetts primary elections.

From the Boston Herald:

Second time around

We’re always pleased when candidates who fell short in their first attempt at winning public office return to the political arena. They’re more seasoned, for starters, but a second attempt also proves a deep commitment to the office they seek. Republican primary voters in the newly-drawn 3rd and 4th congressional districts have an opportunity to reward that tenacity.

In the 4th congressional district, three Republicans are in the race for the open seat. The Herald is pleased to renew its endorsement of Sean Bielat of Norfolk for the GOP nomination.

There’s also an endorsement of businessman Jon Golnik, “[who] is making his second attempt to unseat incumbent Democratic Rep. Niki Tsongas” in the 3rd congressional district.

From the Boston Globe:

Barrett for Democrats, Howes for Republicans in 3rd Middlesex Senate race

Five talented candidates are competing for the Democratic nomination for an open state Senate seat in the Third Middlesex District. Voters in the Sept. 6 primary really can’t go wrong. But Michael Barrett of Lexington stands out for his political experience, private-sector acumen, and evident enthusiasm . . .

In the Republican primary, Concord selectman Gregory Howes is a self-described “Yankee Republican’’ who understands the need for a safety net but believes state government can provide needed services while still controlling costs. He cites his own role in protecting town services without the need for an override of Proposition 2 1/2. As a pro-choice candidate who supports gay marriage, Howes is a better fit for the district than his more conservative rival Sandi Martinez of Chelmsford.

We’ll keep ’em coming as long as they do.

 

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Globe, Herald Agree on Red Sox Edition

August 27, 2012

It’s rare that the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald are on exactly the same page, but they are today.

Boston Globe:

Newfound success

Unheralded players help Sox grind out victory over Royals

Boston Herald:

Castoffs blast off

Unheralded Ciriaco, mates lead Sox past Royals

 

Two unheraldeds?

Unheard of.

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Herald Gives Globe Plagiarism a Free Pass Edition

August 26, 2012

On Friday, as noted by the ever-alert Dan Kennedy of Media Nation (whose new page looks mighty familiar, no?), the Boston Globe acknowledged that this August 17th editorial had ripped off this Todd Domke post on WBUR’s website.

(Tip o’ the pixel to the splendid commenter who sent the hardreading staff this last night: “The plagiarism flap over an unnamed Globe editorial which copied words and structure of a commentary (on Biden’s chains comment) that Todd Domke wrote for BUR web site may be in both papers tomorrow.  Dan Kennedy has an account on his blog.  BG wants to put out the story tomorrow and reveal punishment before the Herald blows it open.  Talk of suspension for yet unnamed writer. Ain’t it great to live in a 2 paper town?”)

But, no – no damage control in the Globe, no damage in the Herald, where this kind of story is normally mother’s milk.(Too busy darning those Sox to bash the crosstown rival? Tsk tsk.)

Jim Romenesko picked it up, but no play we can find beyond that.

Just like Isaac, this is gonna pop sooner or later.

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