From our Walt Whitman desk
You know that visit to Boston Pope John Paul II made in 1979? Turns out it was all the Boston Herald’s doing.
Page 6 of today’s feisty local tabloid:
Close-up:
So forever-orange-tinted George Regan says it was, well, George Regan who got it done back in ’79.
And orange we glad he did.
Badda-boom.
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Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Herald, Boston Herald American, Don Forst, George Regan, John Paul II, Kevin White, Walt Whitman | 
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Posted by Campaign Outsider
If you’re looking for the good dirt on Aaron Hernandez in the local dailies today, the Boston Herald is the place to go.
Page 2 of the feisty local tabloid:
Past run-ins paint image of big-headed Aaron Hernandez
Aaron Hernandez’s repeated high-handed brushes with the law — including one just last January when he allegedly dropped his own celebrity name in a bid to have a statie go easy on his pal — suggest a sense of entitlement dating to the murder defendant’s days as a Florida Gator.
“Trooper, I’m Aaron Hernandez. It’s OK,” State Trooper Eric Papkee reported he was told by the passenger after he pulled over an SUV that had been chasing a station wagon and weaving at speeds of up to 105 mph on Jan. 28 on the Southeast Expressway. Hernandez’s buddy Alexander Bradley — who is now suing Hernandez, claiming he shot him in the face a month later after a night of revelry at a Florida strip club — was at the wheel in the Massachusetts incident and was hit with a second offense drunken driving charge.
Good friend, yeah?
Then there was the 2007 rumpus when Hernandez punched a Florida restaurant manager (rupturing his eardrum) who had the nerve to ask Hernandez to pay for his drinks. Then-college teammate Testament Tim Tebow tried, but apparently failed, to keep Hernandez out of that jam.
More dish? Try the Track:
Hernandez ‘fans’ draw scorn
He may be charged with ruthlessly gunning down a pal in cold blood — and be under investigation for a double murder — but chicks still dig Aaron Hernandez!
Since his arrest, the Twitterverse has been flooded with missives from smitten ladies who still find the former Patriots tight end attractive, despite the heinous crime he is charged with committing. And a Facebook page called Free Aaron Hernandez with the tagline “Innocent Until Proven Guilty” had nearly 3,000 “Likes” yesterday.
“Aaron I pray for you every night & day. I hope everything works out in the end for you,” posted Krystale Anne, one of the scores of Facebook friends who sent out good wishes to the imprisoned ex-Patriot.
And etc.
Crosstown at the Boston Globe, it’s all pretty pedestrian:
Broken mirror sought in Aaron Hernandez case
They will not say why they want it, but investigators remain keenly interested in finding a side mirror from the Nissan Altima believed driven by former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez on the day prosecutors said he allegedly orchestrated the killing of Dorchester resident Odin Lloyd.
Police have been searching for the mirror since the early days of the investigation, after Lloyd was shot to death early on the morning of June 17 in an industrial park near Hernandez’s North Attleborough home.
Not exactly mirror images the Boston dailies, eh?
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Aaron Hernandez, Alexander Bradley, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, broken mirror, Free Aaron Hernandez, Inside Track, Testament Tim Tebow | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
As the hardworking staff at Campaign Outsider noted earlier, the Times-Industrial Complex rendered a split decision on Showtime’s new series Ray Donovan. New York Times critic Alessandra Stanley found it “grandiose, predictable and painfully slow,” while kissin’ cousin Boston Globe critic Matthew Gilbert considered it “fantastic.”
So the hardworking staff went to a tiebreaker: Wall Street Journal critic Dorothy Rabinowitz, who called it a “hard-bitten and buoyant tale.”
But then came Boston Herald critic Mark Perigard, who hated it.
So we needed another tiebreaker.
Which was me and the Missus.
Our verdict:
Meh.
The Missus wants to stipulate that we love Liev Schreiber, but the rest of the cast does a lot of scenery-chewing, and Jon Voight has had so much cosmetic surgery, it now qualifies as a head transplant.
Regardless, we’ll give it one more chance.
3 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Alessandra Stanley, Boston Herald, Campaign Outsider, Dorothy Rabinowitz, Jon Voight, Liev Schreiber, Mark Perigard, Matthew Gilbert, Ray Donovan, Showtime, Times-Industrial Complex, Wall Street Journal | Permalink
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Monday coverage of the James “Whitey” Bulger trial is always challenging for the local dailies, there being no weekend court sessions. So enterprise stories are the order of the day for both papers.
Start with the Boston Globe, which features Page One portraits of the three sketch artists chronicling the trial.
The three freelancers – Jane Flavell Collins of Duxbury, Margaret Small of Cambridge, and Christine Cornell , a New Jersey artist drawing the Bulger trial for CNN – all use binoculars to get up close to their subjects for their pastel sketches. And all three have good stories to tell.
Crosstown at the Boston Herald, it’s a different side of Bulger that’s on display.
Track Gal Gayle Fee has the inside story on two letters purportedly written by Bulger to a South Boston man last year.
Whitey Bulger’s mail from jail
Alleged letters up for sale by dealer
In letters purportedly written by accused crime lord James “Whitey” Bulger to a man in South Boston, Bulger gave fatherly advice, waxed nostalgic about his days in Alcatraz and insisted that he offered to plead guilty to all charges — including 19 murders — if the feds would only free his ladylove Catherine Greig.
“I offered since day one to plead guilty to all crimes I’m accused of if they free Catherine but answer is ‘No.’ They want their ‘Big Circus Trial,’” Bulger wrote in a pair of letters that are currently being offered for sale by Saugus memorabilia dealer Phil Castinetti.
Our favorite part: Bulger pining away for the good old days in Alcatraz:
“The healthy salt air,” he wrote, “open front 9 by 5 foot barred cells and eating in a mess hall — yard with weights to work out with and lots of good convicts. None of that here [in the Plymouth jail].”
Yeah – just can’t find good convicts around here anymore.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Alcatraz, Anthony Cardinale, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Catherine Greig, Gayle Fee, James "Whitey" Bulger, Jane Flavell Collins, Margaret Small. Christine Cornell, Phil Castinetti, Track Gal | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
It’s no secret that Red Sox owner John Henry is one on the bidders lining up to buy the Boston Globe. Here’s how the Globe itself addressed Henry’s bid yesterday:
At least six groups submit bids to buy The Boston Globe
At least six groups are believed to have submitted bids to buy The Boston Globe, according to several people involved in or briefed on the offers.
The bidders, whose offers were due Thursday at 5 p.m., include several of the names previously reported to have been exploring bids, as well as Red Sox owner John Henry and his Fenway Sports Group . . .
Henry made his bid along with his New England Sports Network co-owner, Delaware North Cos. Delaware is owned by Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs.
The New York Times Co., which is selling the Globe, previously owned a stake in the Red Sox.
Leave it to the Boston Herald, however, to expose the dark underbelly of the potential deal.
John Henry’s Globe bid raises fears
Sports coverage could be affected
Sports-savvy readers could be crying foul if Red Sox owner John Henry’s bid to team up with the owner of the Bruins to buy the Globe wins out, fearing the beleaguered broadsheet would shy away from hard-hitting coverage, according to media experts.
“If he owns the paper, he can give good coverage to the team,” said Edward Atorino, a media analyst with The Benchmark Company. “I know what I would do if it were my paper. I’d certainly want a bias to the positive of covering my team — come on.”
A bias to the positive of covering my team? Smooth analysis.
Of course, it’s a perfectly reasonable concern that the Herald raises, given hard times in the news industry and Henry’s past prickliness. It’ll be fun to see how far the feisty local tabloid can stretch it.
Like taffy, we’re betting.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Benchmark Company, Boston Bruins, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Red Sox, Boston Sports Media Watch, Deleware North, Edward Atorino, Fenway Sports Group, Jeremy Jacobs, John Henry, New York Times | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
The Boston Herald gets the Murder Ink award today with this front page:
The feisty local tabloid draws a more detailed picture in its lead story on the increasingly lurid Aaron Hernandez investigation.
Police investigating Hernandez in unsolved double slaying
Fallen Patriots star Aaron Hernandez is at the center of a probe into an unsolved 2012 double slaying in Boston while Dartmouth jail officials are scouring the troubled tight end’s wild array of tattoos for any gang ink links, the Herald has learned.
“We’ll be looking at his tattoos to see if there are any symbols that affiliate with gangs,” said Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, who met with Hernandez yesterday after his bail was denied by a Fall River judge. “We have to always be vigilant around security and not place him somewhere where there are rival gang members.”
That would be Media Whisperer Thomas Hodgson, described this way by one Herald commenter: “Biggest self-promoter out there. Wants to [be] Little Joe Arpaio. What a blowhard.” (Watch his cringe-inducing interview with ESPN here.)
The Herald piece also includes this from a Los Angeles “gang expert” who says Hernandez’ tattoos “appear decorative.”
“It could also be a gang saying, like ‘smile now, pay later,’ ” [she] said, adding Hodgson’s team will spot it if they see it.
They’ll spot it if they see it. Beautiful.
Crosstown, the Boston Globe ran this front-page piece:
Although Globe reporters also talked with law enforcement officials, there was no mention in the stately local broadsheet about tattoos.
Ink one up for the Herald today.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Aaron Hernandez, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Bristol County Sheriff, Jorja Leap, Murder Ink, tattoos, Thomas Hodgson | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
Police Commissioner Ed Davis has officially become a litmus test in Boston’s mayoral race.
It started with this piece in Wednesday’s Boston Herald:
Conley promises to retain top cop
Puts feud with Davis behind him
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley yesterday vowed to keep Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis if elected mayor, as a rift between the two men appears to have ended.
“Commissioner Davis and I have had a very close working relationship for many years now. We are in constant communication anytime there are issues involving the public safety in Boston,” Conley told the Herald.
In the past, the DA and Davis have clashed over jurisdictional issues and strategies for dealing with Boston’s homicide rate.
That triggered this piece in Thursday’s Boston Globe (which credited the Herald for raising the subject):
Half of hopefuls for mayor would retain Davis
Following the Boston Marathon bombings in April, Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis was praised for his steady presence during the ordeal and regaled with an honorary degree. His name was even bandied about as a possible candidate for mayor.
Davis decided to sit it out, but his name has remained part of the race, with questions arising about whether he would keep his post under a new leader at City Hall.
Half of the 12 mayoral candidates contacted by the Globe Wednesday said they would ask him to stay on. Five would not commit to keeping him. One did not respond to the question.
(Interesting foreground/background contrast in the photos, yeah?)
Related Globe piece on the mayoral candidate breakdown:
Yes: Felix Arroyo, John Barros, Bill Walczak, Robert Consalvo, Martin Walsh, Dan Conley.
Still deciding: Charles Clemons Jr., John Connolly, Charlotte Golar Richie, Michael Ross, David James Wyatt.
Did not respond: Charles Yancey.
Yet to comment: Ed Davis.
Stay tuned.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Bill Walczak, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Marathon bombings, Boston mayoral race, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, Charles Clemons Jr., Charles Yancey, Charlotte Golar Richie, Dan Conley., David James Wyatt, Felix Arroyo, John Barros, John Connolly, litmus test, Martin Walsh, Michael Ross, Robert Consalvo | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
The Boston Herald always delights in any adversity visited upon the Boston Globe. So it was no surprise that Wednesday’s Schadenfreude Gazette framed the upcoming sale of the stately local broadsheet in the least promising way possible.
It’s time to sell the Globe
Bids due tomorrow for daily as experts say price won’t be high
Tomorrow is D-Day at The Boston Globe, as bids for the newspaper’s pending sale are closed by parent company The New York Times, and analysts tell the Herald their expectations for a blockbuster selling price are low.
“I can’t believe it’s making much money, if any money,” said Edward Atorino, a media analyst with the Benchmark Company. “Circulation is declining. Advertising is struggling. Boston online hasn’t really set the world on fire.”
Media expert Ken Doctor of Newsonomics predicted the Globe could sell for between $75 million and $150 million — a far cry from the $1.1 billion the Times paid for the paper in 1993.
Oh, and on the way out, don’t forget to tweest:
[T]he Globe has frequently been little more than an afterthought to Times brass, said Atorino.
“I just don’t think Arthur Sulzberger spends a lot of time worrying about the Globe,” said Atorino.
Wednesday’s Financial Times also reported on the impeding sale, but in a slightly more positive tone (tip o’ the pixel to Jim Romenesko).
Bidders line up for Boston Globe sale
Bids for the Boston Globe and related New England media properties are due Thursday, bringing its owner the New York Times Company one step closer to shedding the big city newspaper that has long been a drag on its business.
A handful of local financiers and Boston personalities are expected to submit bids for the group of assets in the $100m range. Evercore Partners, which is managing the sale of the unit, has told people close to the talks that as many as eight parties have expressed interest.
Helpful – if startling – chart:
The Globe itself had nothing to say about the subject on Wednesday. We’ll keep you posted.
3 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Arthur Sulzberger, Benchmark Company, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Edward Atorino, Financial Times, Globe sale, Jim Romenesko, Ken Doctor, New Tork Times, Newsonomics, Shadenfreude Gazette | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
The trial of reputed mobster James “Whitey” Bulger proceeds apace this week with the prosecution opening up FBI informant files detailing what came out of Bulger’s rat trap as he sold out friends and enemies alike. But today’s local dailies have – wait for it – different versions of Bulger’s reaction to the revelations.
Start with the Boston Globe’s report:
Jurors see FBI files describing Bulger as informant
James “Whitey” Bulger fed the FBI information for 15 years about everyone from New York Mafia don John Gotti to some of his closest South Boston associates, sometimes blaming others for his own alleged crimes, according to detailed reports presented in court Monday.
FBI informant files shown to jurors at Bulger’s racketeering trial indicate that in 1980 he warned his handler that “an armored car score is going down in the very near future” and named six men involved, including his longtime friend Patrick Linskey of South Boston.
“They expect the score to be in excess of a million dollars,” top echelon informant 1544, code for Bulger, advised the FBI, according to the report. “[Bulger] advised that the weak link is Patty Linsky [sic] and although crafty, Linsky [sic] is a drinker and would be the logical one to tail.”
Then the Globe story adds this:
The files appear to contradict Bulger’s assertions that he was never an informant. The 83-year-old gangster seemed visibly annoyed as he sat between his lawyers in US District Court in Boston, reading portions of the reports as they were displayed on screens.
Actually, not just visibly according to the Boston Herald’s Howie Carr, who relates this (second-hand) story:
Top Echelon Informant? Low Echelon Informant is more like it. Whitey’s official number was BS-1544-TE. Fill in your own joke about the BS.
According to people sitting near the White Rat in the courtroom yesterday, he mumbled, “I am not a (expletive) informant.”
All righty, Whitey. You just keep muttering that.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, FBI informant, Howie Carr, James "Whitey" Bulger, John Gotti, Patrick Linskey | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
Today’s Boston Herald features this report about faulty reporting in the ongoing murder investigation involving New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez:
Aaron Hernandez attorney slams media on false arrest claim
The lawyer for Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez blasted the media last night for “relentless” reporting of a false rumor of an arrest warrant issued against the 23-year-old, when only search warrants were filed with the courts.
Several outlets did report continually last week an arrest warrant had been issued. The Herald was not one of them.
Plug “Aaron Hernandez arrest warrant” into the Googletron, and you get this:
Note the “CBS Local” included in the search results. Here’s a recap from the Huffington Post:
Conflicting reports surfaced on Friday morning over whether a warrant had been issued for the arrest of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in connection with the shooting death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd.
Citing an unnamed source, WBZ News Radio in Boston first reported early Friday morning that a warrant had been issued and that the NFL star would be charged with obstruction of justice. Hours later, the Boston Globe would report, citing its own law enforcement source, that no arrest warrant had yet been issued in the case.
And another local player:
Also citing an unnamed source, Bob Ward of FOX 25 had reported earlier on Friday that a warrant has been issued for Hernandez’s arrest. Ward also reported that Hernandez faces an obstruction of justice charge.
Neither today’s Herald piece nor a similar one in the Globe name any names in the false arrest claims. That’s why we’re here.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Aaron Fernandez, Bob Ward, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CBS Local, false arrest claims, Fox 25, Googletron, Huffington Post, New England Patriots, Odin Lloyd, WBZ News Radio | Permalink
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It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town 