January 29, 2014
Last night Gov. Deval Patrick (D-Lame Duck Dynasty) delivered his last State of the Commonwealth speech, and today’s Boston Herald is on it like Brown on Williamson.
Start, quite naturally, on Page One:
Inside, the Gov guff spreads across two pages (and a warm Two-Daily Town welcome back to the entirely random Little Green 1!).
Howie Carr’s column features his usual mail-in mutterings, while Joe Battenfeld’s piece begins “There is no ‘I’ in team, but there definitely is one in Patrick.” (As my brother Bob says, there may be no I in team, but there is Eat Me.)
Then there’s the obligatory tsk-tsking editorial, and an editorial cartoon from the ever-clever Jerry Holbert.
Combined, it’s a Full Herald, the journalistic equivalent of a Full Newark (white necktie, white belt, white shoes).
Attention-getting, but tough to look at for too long.
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Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Herald, Deval Patrick, Full Herald, Full Newark, Howie Carr, Jerry Holbert, Joe Battenfeld, State of the Commonwealth | 
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January 28, 2014
Looks like Jen Royle and Jon Meterparel are gone from Boston Herald Radio.
Boston Herald shameless print promo from last week:
Boston Herald shameless print promo from yesterday:
The writing was on the wall-to-wall promotion earlier this month. Royle had the stage on January 17 with her column in the print edition.
But Chris Villani took center stage two days later.
And now Villani has the 3 pm-6 pm timeslot that no one listens to.
(Who the hell is Chris Villani? See here.)
Meanwhile, @Jen_Royle is roiling the Twitterverse.
More to come, obviously.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: @Jen_Royle, Boston Herald, Boston Herald Radio, Chris Villani, Jen Royle, Jon Meterparel, Meter, Sportstown, Twitter | Permalink
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January 27, 2014
As the hard reading staff has noted on numerous occasions, it’s normally the Boston Herald that gets shortchanged in the full-page-ad department, especially in terms of advocacy ads.
But not today.
Page 11:
The outfit that funded the ad, Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, describes itself as “a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization working in strategic partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association to make Alzheimer’s disease a national priority.”
And Ed Markey? He’s co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease. So good idea to suck up to him, although not sure why the Herald is the place to do it.
Regardless, here’s another thing today’s Herald has that the Globe doesn’t: coverage of Chet Curtis’s wake yesterday.
Nice coverage, unfortunate photos.
Finally, the Herald has also cornered the market on Romney Redux reporting, with the normally level-headed Kimberly Atkins speculating that two-time presidential loser Mitt Romney might go for the hat trick.
Oy.
So the feisty local tabloid goes two-for-three today. Better than average, yes?
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's Impact Movement, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Chet Curtis, Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease, Ed Markey, Janet Wu, Kimberly Atkins, Mitt Romney, Romney Redux, Susan Wornick | Permalink
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January 22, 2014
From our Tomato/Tomahto desk
Boston magazine’s Steve Annear had it first in a blog post yesterday.
Mayor Walsh Bucks Broncos Jersey Bet
He was supposed to wear the jersey at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, but he canceled the trip because of the snowstorm.
Mayor Marty Walsh has the snow to thank for saving him the embarrassment of wearing a Broncos jersey in front of his fellow mayors from across the country.
Citing the impending storm that’s set to drop up to 10 inches of snow in the Boston area through Wednesday afternoon, Walsh canceled his trip to Washington, D.C., where he was scheduled to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
And scheduled to wear the Broncos jersey at some point during the three-day conference.
But he punked out.
Today’s Boston Herald picked up the story (sorry, BoMag – no credit for you!) and added this wrinkle from Boston University’s Thomas Whalen:
“It’s probably not a good idea for Boston’s newly elected mayor to be wearing a Broncos jersey … but a bet is a bet. And he’s welshing on a bet. Does he keep his word? It’s not a good way to start.”
Waiting to hear from the Welsh Anti-Defamation League. Except there isn’t one. But this is a good Mike Royko piece.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Herald, Boston Magagine, Boston mayor, Boston University, Denver, Denver Broncos jersey, Marty Walsh, Michael B. Hancock, Mike Royko, Steve Annear, Thomas Whalen, tomato/tomahto, U.S. Conference of Mayors | Permalink
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January 21, 2014
First it was the strip ad at the bottom of Page One. Now the Boston Globe has inserted advertising into its In the news index that occupies the lefthand side of the front page every day.
Monday’s Boston Globe:
And the interloping ad:
Yes yes – the Boston Herald also posts ads on its front page.
But the Boston Sports Clubs ad is clearly set off from the Herald’s editorial content. Which the Globe’s Citizens Bank interloper clearly is not.
Paging John Henry. Paging Boston Globe owner John Henry.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Sports Clubs, Citizens Bank, In the news, John Henry, One Deposit Checking, Page One | Permalink
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January 18, 2014
A nifty little criss-cross has religion and politics switching places in the local dailies today.
Boston Herald front page:
Inside the story gets two pages: a news report that seems to be mostly AP material, and his ‘n’ her columns from Ray Flynn and Margery Eagan.
On page 3 of the feisty local broadsheet, there’s this piece:
Mitt aide rues blocking doc
Right off the top, the documentary “Mitt” shows a defeated Mitt Romney teary-eyed and searching for help in crafting a concession 
speech — and the personal number for President Obama.
“By the way, someone have a number for the president?” a dejected Romney asks on election night Nov. 6, 2012, in his hotel suite in Boston.
“What do you say in a concession speech?” he adds.
Seriously? Anyway, the point of the piece is this: “[A] top Romney adviser and friend admitted the campaign blew it by repeatedly opposing the release of the documentary, which could have helped Romney shed his stiff, robotic image.”
Crosstown at the Boston Globe, Romney moves up to the front page.
This “Mitt” piece has Romney’s son Tagg doing the lamenting:
“I was frustrated that we were not able to get an accurate portrayal of who my dad was out there,” Tagg said in an interview Friday, as he discussed the film. “The campaign team wanted to present a very controlled image. . . . The movie shows a very real human being: a flawed person with weaknesses but someone who is much more real and understandable.”
Meanwhile, it’s the Pope who gets page 3 in the stately local broadsheet, also via the AP.
Pope said to defrock 400 priests in 2 years
VATICAN CITY — A document shows Pope Benedict XVI defrocked nearly 400 priests over two years for sexually molesting children.
The statistics for 2011 and 2012 show a dramatic increase over the 171 priests removed in 2008 and 2009, when the Vatican first provided details on the number of priests who have been defrocked. Before that, it had only revealed the number of alleged cases of abuse it had received and the number of trials it had authorized.
While it’s not clear why the numbers spiked in 2011, it could be because 2010 saw a explosion in the number of cases reported in the media in Europe and beyond.
Here endeth the criss-cross.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: "Mitt", AP, Boston Herald, defrocked priests, Greg Whiteley, Margery Eagan, Mitt Romney, Netflix, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, Ray Flynn, Sundance Film Festival, Tagg Romney, Vatican | Permalink
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January 17, 2014
More ad-versity for the Boston Herald: Yesterday it was bypassed by two advertisers who took out full pages in the Boston Globe.
Ad #1 (page A8):
Ad #2 (page A10):
Neither ran in the funky local tabloid.
That’s a problem, yeah, Heraldniks?
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston flu, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Heraldniks, James Taylor, Puffs, Tanglewood | Permalink
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January 15, 2014
Once again, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy is the skunk at the garden party.
Today’s stink bomb:
Sorry, the Patriots are going to lose
The Broncos are going to beat the Patriots Sunday.
Sorry, that’s just the way I see it. I am not rooting for the Broncos. I am not into Satanic worship. Please do not kill my whole family. I am often wrong 
(remember the 2013 Red Sox, destined for last place?) and hopefully for New England fans, I will be wrong again.
The Patriots have proven folks wrong time and again. Overcoming doubters is the foundation of the Patriot franchise.
Doubting the Patriots this weekend is hardly a daring position. They are significant underdogs in Vegas. Most of the national TV panel guys will pick against New England. Some of the handicapping local car dealers will pick the Broncos. There might even be a footy-pajama fanboy or two with doubts about the Patriots’ ability to beat Peyton Manning.
So I am a doubter . . .
A doubter? Not in Denver, Danny Boy. There you’re a hero. You even made the homepage of the First-and-Orange BroncoBlog (look lower left).
You don’t see the Boston Herald being fêted in the Mile High City, do ya Danno?
No.
Final word goes to Roger Bournival at Dan Shaughnessy Watch (“We read him so you don’t have to”):
For what it’s worth, Tom Brady is 10-4 in head-to-head matchups with Peyton Manning. If Shank thinks the Patriots are going to lose, that’s all I need to take the Patriots.
‘Nuf ced.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Dan Shaughnessy, Dan Shaughnessy Watch, Denver Broncos, Denver Post, First-and-Orange, New England Patriots, Peyton Manning, Roger Bournival, Tom Brady | Permalink
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January 14, 2014
Who’s the hottest guy in town? The hardreading staff votes for Mike Sheehan, who does a daily double in today’s Boston Herald.
Sheehan, the former CEO and current part-time chairman of high-octane ad agency Hill Holliday, is first Heralded here.
One Fund organized in mere hours
Menino reached out to Hub leaders day after bombings
The morning after the April 15 marathon bombings, former Mayor Thomas M. Menino started calling local business and community leaders. He told them they had seven hours to create what would become The One Fund before he announced it at 5 p.m. that night.
“There was an immediate understanding of the urgency at hand,” said James Gallagher, executive vice-president of John Hancock, at an advertising conference in Boston yesterday. “We got underway right away.”
“The number one thing we had was a deadline,” Hill Holiday Chairman Mike Sheehan said, adding he has never worked on a project with the scale or urgency of what would become The One Fund.
“It took 15 minutes to design a logo,” Sheehan said — a blue “1” on a yellow background, modeled after a marathon bib.
“Everybody knew how to do their job, and we just did it,” he said.
The next day, Sheehan added, they had “a pile of checks 5 feet high, wide and long.”
Since then Sheehan has been hired as a consultant by the Boston Globe to help improve advertising sales. It’s in that capacity that he does his second turn in the feisty local tabloid.
Adviser: Globe no hobby for John Henry
Former Hill Holliday CEO Mike Sheehan said yesterday his new gig as an advertising adviser to Boston Globe owner John Henry is focused on maximizing revenue, and didn’t rule out a rebranding of the broadsheet, while emphasizing Henry is treating his own 
role as a “full-time job.”
“The Globe has a very attractive audience,” Sheehan told the Herald. “Like any media operation, they have to be vigilant about making sure their advertisers know that and that they have great opportunities to reach them.”
Sheehan said there’s no set timetable for how long he’ll be advising the broadsheet. “To be perfectly frank, I just want to help where I can help for as long as it takes to really make this place start humming,” said Sheehan, who is chairman of the Hub ad agency.
Of course saying the stately local broadsheet is not a Henry hobby only makes people think it is.
Clever those Heraldniks, eh?
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Marathon bombings, Hill Holliday, James Gallagher, John Hancock, John Henry, Mike Sheehan, One Fund, Thomas M. Menino | Permalink
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January 11, 2014
What’s newsworthy about new Boston Mayor Marty Walsh? Judging by today’s local dailies, it’s all relative.
From the Boston Globe’s front page:
Walsh vows steps to aid those hurt by Alzheimer’s
Mayor says his own experience will help to shape his plans
Martin J. Walsh walked in the door to visit his grandmother at her Irish farmhouse, and she did not know who he was.
Mary Ann O’Malley did not remember her own daughter, either. By the time she had reached her early 80s, O’Malley had forgotten much of what she once knew intimately.
“We would walk in the house,” Walsh said in an interview, “and she would ask who we were . . . ”
While Walsh’s struggles with cancer as a child and alcoholism as a young man became well known during the campaign, his family’s history with Alzheimer’s was news to many, who learned of it during his inaugural speech Monday.
So Walsh will be placing a high priority on “improving services for people with Alzheimer’s and their families.”
Crosstown at the Boston Herald, Walsh’s family news is less heart-warming than heartburn-y.
Walsh defends choice of cousin for driver
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said he picked his cousin, a Boston police sergeant, to be his official driver — a plum job that usually bodes well for the career of the cop selected — because she was qualified and he wanted someone he could trust in the position.
The administration confirmed Thursday that the driver, Sgt. Winifred Cotter, is the new mayor’s cousin.
“It’s not nepotism. Winny is a police officer who has an extensive career in the police department,” Walsh said yesterday. “She’s a sergeant. She’s somebody I completely trust. She’s worked in city government a lot longer than I have.”
Yes, well, keep this Crony Hall act up (paging Eugene O’Flaherty!) and she’ll work in city government a lot more than you will too, Mistah Mayah.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Alzheimer's, Barbara Leahy, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Crony Hall, Eugene O'Flaherty, Marty Walsh, Mary Anne O'Malley, Mary Walsh, official driver, Sgt. Winifred Cotter, Walsh cousin | Permalink
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It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town 