Public sector unions in Connecticut filed a complaint last month with the state’s attorney general alleging a conservative think tank located in Hartford unlawfully tapped into the state’s email system in an effort to spawn opposition to an agreement between the unions and the administration of Gov. Dan Malloy. Andrew Cowin, chairman of the Yankee […]
Media and Journalism
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Hyperlocal news in trouble
Whatever the future of news is, Jack Shafer of Slate doesn’t think it will include Patch. Shafer recently wrote a piece deriding AOL’s network of community news sites known as Patch, claiming the business model can’t work with the amount of ad revenue the sites currently bring in. He had a larger diagnosis of hyperlocal […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Mixed media
the trend at first seemed heartening. The problems in the US education system had become so compelling that filmmakers recently produced several documentaries on the topic, with some even enjoying commercial success at theaters. It suggested that the critical issues facing schooling in America might finally be registering on a broad scale. But after attending […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, The Download
Frank credit
In his column yesterday, the Herald’s Howie Carr skewered US Rep. Barney Frank for recommending his then-partner Herb Moses for a job 20 years ago at Fannie Mae, a housing agency his legislative committee oversees. Carr ended the column by asking: “When do you think El Globo will report this story?” To its credit, the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, The Download
The Download: Howie Inc.
Howie Carr, the one-man media empire, knows how to promote himself. His latest book, Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano: Whitey Bulger’s Enforcer and the Most Feared Gangster in the Underworld, is a look inside the Boston underworld through the eyes of a contract killer. It’s No. 17 on the New York Times best-seller […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
White House all wet taking Herald out of pool
Did anyone with even a passing knowledge of Boston politics and media not know what the front page of the Herald would look like today after the White House made a point that the paper’s perceived slant is not appreciated when doling out pool reporting assignments? As national media came calling for a quote, Herald […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Download: The Eagle-Tribune and Lantigua
In 1988, the Eagle-Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize for its relentless coverage of Willie Horton and the Massachusetts prison furlough program. The paper published nearly 200 stories detailing how Horton, a convicted murderer sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, was able to walk away from prison on a weekend furlough and rape […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download
The Download: Oddfellows: Globe to print Herald
What’s next, Howie Carr sporting a bowtie? Frank Phillips and Brian Mooney acknowledging their Herald roots? The Inside Track finding something interesting in the Boring Broadsheet? The Globe writing a follow-up story and giving the Herald credit? Word comes that the Herald and Globe are deep in negotiations for the tabloid to outsource much of […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
The Download: KIPP success a matter of degrees
In the world of high-achieving urban charter schools, seeing graduates ultimately go on and finish college has always been the Holy Grail, the goal that school leaders say truly represents the ticket into the middle-class for students who have grown up in poverty. For the vast majority of students in this country who grow up […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Bin Laden’s long time on the lam
By Michael Jonas Just how long was the period between Osama Bin Laden’s emergence as the most wanted man on the planet following the 9/11 attacks and his killing last night in a firefight with US forces in Pakistan? Long enough that Bin Laden outlived one of the authors of his New York Times obituary. […]