February 14, 2016
Today’s Boston Herald beat its crosstown rival to this story by Owen Boss:
Suit filed against reporter, news agencies for marathon bombings-related report
A Chelsea family with Chechen roots has filed a $105 million libel suit against journalist Michele McPhee and a 
handful of news outlets that referenced a story she wrote for ABC News in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, claiming the
article had a disastrous
impact on their lives and personal relationships.
The Umarov family’s lawsuit — which was first reported by Universal Hub — was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Boston and claims that McPhee’s article published March 4, 2014, titled “Feds Searching for Friend of Boston Marathon Suspect, ‘Concern’ Over Chechnya Trip,” has caused “irreparable damage to their reputations and esteem, as well as a loss of associations, and loss of potential gainful employment.”
The Herald’s web version doesn’t provide a link to the Universal Hub post or McPhee’s ABC piece. Worse, it doesn’t mention that McPhee is a former reporter and columnist at the dodgy local tabloid. You’d think they might’ve included that.
Then again, the Herald piece was quick enough to name the other defendants in the libel suit: McPhee Productions, ABC News, The Daily Mail, Heavy, Inc., News Corp. Australia, DMG Media, the New York Daily News and anti-Islamic activist and journalist Pamela Geller. A lot of deep pockets there.
Crosstown, at this moment anyway, the Boston Globe has nothing on the story.
(Parenthetically, is it just the hardreading staff or is the Globe’s search engine much lamer these days?)
More, no doubt, to come.
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Uncategorized | Tagged: ABC News, Boston Herald, Boston Marathon bombings, DMG Media, dodgy local tabloid, Heavy Inc., McPhee Productions, Michele McPhee, New York Daily News, News Corp. Australia, Owen Boss, Pamela Geller, The Daily Mail, Universal Hub | 
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Posted by Campaign Outsider
December 30, 2014
Today’s edition of the selfie local tabloid once again demonstrates its Heraldcentric theory of the universe, as it reports that the trial of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is all about, well, the Boston Herald.
Lawyers blast feds over Herald column
Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers have again asked a judge to postpone his trial, challenging 
prosecutors’ claims about their preparation process and slamming a Herald column that criticized the defense’s repeated efforts to seek delays.
In the motion filed yesterday, Tsarnaev’s legal team disputes the government claim that they have refused to stipulate to any evidence — an acknowledgement that would preclude bringing in officials to testify about how it was acquired and handled.
The Herald column in question? This one:
According to today’s report, “[t]he defense motion cites Herald reporter Bob McGovern’s Dec. 26 Full Court Press column, which referred to the defense’s ‘foot-dragging’ and ‘stall tactics’ as an example.”
Jackpot!
As you might expect, crosstown at the Boston Globe there’s nary a word about foot-dragging or stalling or stipulating . . . or the Herald.
Tsarnaev defense renews pitch to delay trial
Says prosecutors sent thousands of documents late
Attorneys for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev renewed their push Monday to delay his death penalty trial, set to start in one week, until the fall.
In papers filed in US District Court, the attorneys for the 21-year-old, who is accused of detonating two bombs at the 2013 Marathon finish line along with his late brother, Tamerlan, said the government has handed over thousands of documents to them at the last moment.
As a result, the attorneys wrote, there is no way they can be ready to defend Tsarnaev both during the trial, and if he is convicted, during the penalty phase, where jurors will be asked to decide whether the former Cambridge resident deserves the death penalty.
One town, two different trials, eh?
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Bob McGovern, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Marathon bombings, David Bruck, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Full Court Press, Jane Flavell Collins, John R. Ellement, Judy Clarke, Jules Crittenden, Miriam Conrad, selfie local tabloid, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Timothy Watkins, William Fick | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
April 17, 2014
It’s awards season for newspapers right now, and Boston hit the dailies double in the latest journalism lovefest.
From the Boston Globe:
Nice, eh? Spread the love to WBUR and the Herald, even if the latter did catch a bit of an elbow:
Both the Globe and the Boston Herald took first place for deadline reporting on the Boston Marathon bombings. The Globe won in the category for newspapers with more than 100,000, while the Herald won for newspapers with daily circulation of more than 50,000 but less than 100,000.
And crosstown at the firsty local tabloid? Here’s how it played:
Actually, call it the frosty local tabloid. And call it a sore winner.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Bill Greene, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Marathon bombings, Commonhealth, firsty local tabloid, frosty local tabloid, Neil Swidey, Sigma Delta Chi awards, Society of Professional Journalists, WBUR | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
April 16, 2014
The Big Town’s feisty loco tabloid has a distinct Boston accent today.
Start, as seems appropriate, with Page One (tip o’ the pixel to FishbowlNY).
Look familiar? Right – it’s the Boston Globe’s stunner of an interactive photo from yesterday’s Marathon bombing anniversary edition.
The story inside comes compliments of old friend Leonard Greene, late of the Boston Herald.
Solemn ceremonies mark anniversary of Boston Marathon bombings
Survivors of last year’s Boston Marathon bombing commemorated Tuesday’s anniversary of the deadly blast with solemn ceremonies and a shared determination to keep moving forward.
Gathering at the now-sacred site where two homemade pressure-cooker bombs ripped through a dense crowd near the race’s finish line, runners, spectators and supporters paused to reflect on the moment their lives changed forever.
“Last year, I was on the ground at the finish line,” said Kevin White, who was injured by shrapnel that ripped through his legs. “This year I’ll be running across it. It kind of proves to people that evil isn’t going to win.”
Big Town v. Bean Town? Boston all the way.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Marathon bombings, feisty loco tabloid, FishbowlNY, Leonard Greene, New York Post, One Year One City | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
April 16, 2014
Yesterday the hardreading staff noted that one Peter Emerson O’Neil of Norfolk, MA ran this ad in the Boston Herald on the first anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings.
We also noted that Mr. O’Neil was nowhere to be found on the Googletron.
But no more.
We await further details.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Herald, Boston Marathon bombings, Googletron, Peter Emerson O'Neil | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
April 15, 2014
On the first anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings, local newspapers got the hat trick in the Newseum’s Today’s Top Ten Front Pages.
Staying Strong
While addressing the continued struggles to overcome the physical and emotional wounds suffered during the Boston Marathon bombing one year ago, today’s front pages also focus on inspirational stories of community, heroism, and healing. The vivid front page of the Metro – Boston Edition effectively acknowledges the tragedy of that “dark day,” while looking forward to “a bright future.”
The Top Ten:
Closer:
Even closer:
Gotta be killing the Heraldniks that Metro Boston got the shoutout in the copy, but that won’t keep the feisty local tabloid from running a “news story” about their high honor in tomorrow’s edition.
Our Walt Whitman desk is on full alert.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Marathon bombings, Metro Bston, The Newseum, Today's Top Ten Front Pages, Walt Whitman | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
April 15, 2014
First off, can any of you remember a day when both local dailies had wraparound front pages? (Can’t find the Globe wrapper, but this interactive feature comes close.)
Us neither.
But Marathon memorial ads mostly migrated to the Globe.
And this one, which we totally don’t like.
The only memorial ad that ran in the Herald (outside of a Macy’s ad that ran in both dailies) was this:
We plugged Peter Emerson O’Neil into the Googletron but nothing came up. Maybe he will now.
P.S. This house ad for the Globe’s Pulitzer probably belongs here too.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Marathon bombings, Boston Strong, Macy's, Peter Emerson O'Neil, Pulitzer Prize, Stop & Shop, The One Fund | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
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
Posted by Campaign Outsider
December 16, 2013
Okay, well not everyone thinks the Boston Globe’s big Sunday takeout – The Fall of the House of Tsarnaev – is Pulitzer prose the way the hardswooning staff at Campaign Outsider does.
From today’s Boston Herald:
‘SICKENING’
Globe’s bomber tales disgust mother of Marathon survivors
The Stoneham mother whose two sons each lost a leg in the Boston Marathon bombing called “sickening” a nine-page special section in yesterday’s Boston Globe that downplayed Islamic extremism, suggesting the Tsarnaev family’s bad luck, poverty and mental issues had more to do with the plot, while legal experts said 
those claims are likely to figure strongly in any effort to spare surviving accused terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from the death penalty.
“I hope people don’t fall for this. It’s a joke. There’s no excuse for what those terrorists did,” Liz Norden said of Tsarnaev, 20, and his older brother Tamerlan, who was killed in Watertown in a firefight with police after four people had been murdered and more than 260 others wounded — with numerous amputations.
Both Norden’s sons, JP and Paul, lost their right legs as one of two pressure-cooker bombs packed with shrapnel exploded in Copley Square on April 15.
The feisty local tabloid notes that “[a] Globe spokeswoman declined to comment.” Herald readers, by contrast, are staging a regular Who Struck John in the comments section.
Representative sample:
From there, they were off to the races (123 comments as of this posting).
Check the Herald’s editorial page tomorrow for Chapter Two.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Marathon bombings, Campaign Outsider, David Filipov, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, JP Norden, Liz Norden, Patricia Wen, Paul Norden, Sally Jacobs, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, The Fall of the House of Tsarnaev | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
July 21, 2013
Saturday’s local dailies had – wait for it – very different takes on the State Police photos of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s April 19 apprehension by law enforcement officials after a “massive manhunt.”
From the Boston Globe:
Some praise officer for bloody images
Sergeant with State Police faces hearing on action
The State Police sergeant who released dramatic photos of the capture of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev without the agency’s permission received enthusiastic support Friday from an array of backers.
“The department received dozens upon dozens of calls and e-mails today from citizens around the country supporting Sergeant Murphy and what he did,” State Police spokesman David Procopio said Friday.
Sergeant Sean Murphy, who released the images of a bloody Tsarnaev to Boston Magazine Thursday, also drew praise on social media, including Twitter. He said he released the photos in response to Rolling Stone magazine’s putting Tsarnaev on its cover with an image that critics said made him look glamorous.
“Great photos,” one person wrote of Murphy’s images. “I support your decision.”
But not everyone felt the same way, as the Boston Herald’s front page noted:
The inside scoop:
Dzhokhar’s dream photos?
Cop pics could help defense
The leaked state police photos of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s bloody, woozy capture and surrender in Watertown may be exactly the evidence the Boston Marathon bombing suspect’s legal team needs to help him talk his way out of the death chamber, a former federal prosecutor said yesterday.
“I absolutely think they’re going to be using these in terms of mitigation — that he’s been injured enough, that he suffered, that he was fired upon without firing upon the others,” attorney R. Bradford Bailey told the Herald. “These are the precise types of facts that make a persuasive argument against imposing the death penalty.
“This is certainly material for Judith Clarke and her experience with capital punishment cases,” he added, referring to the San Diego death-penalty specialist who has been appointed to Tsarnaev’s case.
This one is, as they say in the betting line, pick ’em.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston magazine, Boston Marathon bombings, capital punishment, death penalty, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Judith Clarke, R. Bradford Bailey, Rolling Stone, Sergeant Sean Murphy, State Police photos | Permalink
Posted by Campaign Outsider
It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town 