Berkshire Eagle becomes part of the national conversation about race
By 
Some communities talk about talking about race. But in the Berkshires, powerful conversations about race matters have been going on for several years, especially since the Berkshire County NAACP revived its local chapter in 2012.
The Berkshire Eagle has amplified those conversations with the publication last month of an opinion piece by Steven Nikitas, a local “conservative activist” and Berkshire County Republican Association member.
In 2013, a group of area conservatives sought a regular forum for their views and approached the newspaper, which agreed to provide an op-ed slot every other week, which has been titled “Right from the Berkshires.” Jim Bronson, the chairman of the Berkshire County Republican Association, explained in his introductory column that the pieces would provide a voice for the approximately 20,000 “righties” (as Bronson called them) in the overwhelmingly lefty region.
“As you get to know us, we trust you will find our opinions reasoned, informed, and thoughtful,” Bronson wrote.
As Nikitas lobbed a fistful of tired generalizations and stereotypes at a monolithic “black America” and assigned Sharpton a status more lofty than the one he actually holds, the column did not immediately spark a huge backlash.
The backlash came after the massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17. That’s when “the furor really erupted,” Bill Everhart, the Berkshire Eagle’s editorial page editor, told CommonWealth. “The thing I found most startling was [the conclusion by some readers] that we chose to run this column after the events in Charleston, South Carolina, when in fact it ran a week before,” Everhart said.
Some of the most outraged readers were outside Massachusetts. People who weren’t familiar with the Berkshire Eagle’s reputation as a progressive paper were the most upset. It “shook us a little bit that so many things were attributed to the Eagle versus the columnist,” Everhart added.
The controversy has attracted the attention of the Boston Globe, Mass Live, and national media outlets such as Talking Points Memo.
Berkshire Eagle editor Kevin Moran published an explanation of the paper’s decision to run the column on June 26. Moran’s column sums up the newsroom’s view, says Everhart. The newspaper’s roughly 15-member staff includes one African American reporter.
Media analysts such as Northeastern University’s Dan Kennedy, who disagreed with the decision to publish, described his reaction this way: “A community paper like the Eagleshould provide a public forum… But it should also have standards for what it chooses to publish, and that’s where I think the Eagle blew it.”
Bronson, the Berkshire County Republican chairman, backed up Nikitas and told MassLive that the message was obscured by “inartful” language and criticized the Eaglefor “gotcha journalism” in its response to the controversy.
The Eagle also got support for its decision to publish. One Berkshire County NAACP member told Everhart that the paper had done a public service. (When he talked to CommonWealth, Everhart said he had not heard from the local NAACP branch officials.) Lee Williamson, a member of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, wrote to say that he was “proud of the paper.”
Everhart has “no problem” with people being upset about the column. “It was important to put in the light of day ideas like these that many of us find appalling,” he said. “It serves no purpose to let them fester underneath the surface.”
Going forward, the Eagle plans to include more information about an author in the “tag lines” at the end of opinion pieces so it is clear that the person’s views are his or hers alone and do not represent the paper’s editorial position. Everhart says that the paper will also re-evaluate how the Berkshire County Republicans and the “Right from the Berkshires” column can best counterbalance the paper’s liberal-leaning editorial page.
As for the impact of the Berkshire Eagle controversy on the wider media world, Everhart noted that if an outlet believes it is in the right to publish a controversial opinion, then editors have to “trust their instincts” and be ready to “take the heat.” But they also have to be ready to confront cyberspace-generated outrage beyond their home turf. “Clarity is really important today when so many things go flying around the Internet link-to-link-to-link and the original context is lost of a newspaper trying to provide an opinion that is dramatically different from its own,” Everhart said.
–GABRIELLE GURLEY
BEACON HILL
The owners of a trash hauling firm were fined $120,000 by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance for illegal donations to Boston area mayors that were made by funneling money through employees. (Patriot Ledger)
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito promises swifter state help to municipalities if they sign a compact on best administrative practices. (Gloucester Times)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera decides to keep a city engineer on the job beyond this week even though he will miss a deadline for obtaining his license. (Eagle-Tribune)
After 20 years of planning and brainstorming, Salem is preparing to build a community life center. (Salem News)
Not a snowflake in sight but the white stuff was on the minds of the New Bedford City Council whose members restored funding for snow removal in the budget that otherwise could have left them without the money to plow if another big storm hit this winter. (Standard-Times)
OLYMPICS
Boston 2024 won’t be able to insure against all risks. (Boston Globe) The biggest risk the Games won’t be able to protect against is the proposed massive redevelopment at Widett Circle, writes Yvonne Abraham. (Boston Globe) Boston 2024 takes its pitch to Boston College.
The Dorchester Reporter says elected officials representing the neighborhood reacted positively to the latest Boston 2024 plan. The paper also dissects the plans to remake traffic-tangled Kosciuszko Circle.
Mayor Marty Walsh ripped protesters aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement for protesting against the Olympics earlier this week at 4 a.m. in front of his house. (The mayor was in Colorado at the time.) (Boston Herald)
CASINOS
The joust between Mayor Marty Walsh‘s administration and Wynn Resorts includes a testy back and forth over planned road improvements on the Boston streets most casino patrons would use to get the proposed Everett gambling facility. (Boston Globe)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
The US and Cuba have agreed to reopen their embassies in each other’s countries, though the formal trade embargo will remain intact until Congress moves to end it. (U.S. News & World Report)
The initial release of emails from Hillary Clinton‘s first year as Secretary of State reveals an awkward relationship with her boss, President Obama, and her worry about how others perceive her. (New York Times)
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and state Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry ask Bostonians not to vacation in the Dominican Republic because of the country’s treatment of residents of Haitian descent. (WBUR)
Former senator Scott Brown is pushing a diet pill called AdvoCare, but it’s unclear whether he’s benefiting financially as he trumpets before and after pictures of himself. (The Daily Beast)
ELECTIONS
Backers of a ballot initiative to legalize adult use of marijuana are tweaking the languageto allow existing medical marijuana dispensaries to also sell the drug for recreational use. (Cape Cod Times)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who recently launched a bid for the Republican nomination for president, signed into law a cap on the state’s film tax credit that has Hollywood producers threatening to take their movies next door to Georgia with its more friendly tax credit. (National Review)
Gas prices in the state are heading down. (Boston Globe)
Whole Foods admits to overcharging customers for some products in New York City and vows to correct the problem. (Time)
EDUCATION
Marty Meehan takes the reins as the new president of UMass, and lays out big ambitions for the system. (Boston Globe) The Lowell Sun story on his first official day is here. Meehan proposes a three-year program for veterans. (WBUR)
On his first official day on the job, Boston schools superintendent Tommy Chang meets with students and urges them to make their voices heard. (Boston Globe)
HEALTH CARE
John McDonough of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health rips the US Chamber of Commerce for fighting anti-smoking efforts in developing countries. (CommonWealth)
Childbirth practices vary pretty dramatically from hospital to hospital. WBUR’s Martha Bebinger runs the numbers.
TRANSPORTATION
The Cape Flyer, the summer train from Boston to Hyannis, has added a new stop in Brockton. (The Enterprise)
A Herald editorial tears into the MBTA Carmen’s Union and says full-speed ahead on proposed T reforms.
The Beverly Municipal Airport, which is building a $4 million administration building with state funds, just received a $714,600 federal grant for other improvements. (Salem News)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Former Boston Herald editor Andy Costello was in fair condition at a North Carolina hospital after becoming the seventh person this year to be attacked by a shark in shallow waters off the state’s beaches. (Boston Herald)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
The judge in the Aaron Hernandez murder trial upheld his conviction, saying the decision was made by a “rational jury” and the guilty finding was “supported by the evidence.” (Herald News)
A black Emerson College professor and the Newton police are in a showdown over a citation for driving without a license in which the man says race is a clear subtext. (Boston Globe)
A homeless man who wanted to go to jail got his wish by walking into the Lowell Market Basket naked. (Lowell Sun)
The BBC, responding to a shift to digital advertising, is laying off 1,000 of its 18,000 workers. (The Guardian)