Something's definitely up with ol' Dan-O.
He's suddenly become a virtual cornucopia of columns, adding four more columns to his April grab bag since my last posting on April 14th ... and they're all decent, workmanlike bits, with just a tad of snideness...
With his additional four efforts, he brings his monthly total to thirteen. (Time for a few weeks off to flex his typing fingers, eh?)
His April 16th offering, entitled "With or Without Garnett, Repeat Unlikely" kicked off his Celtics' playoff coverage, lamenting the fact that it looks as though big Kevin is through for the year, and ceding Boston's playoff hopes to one opponent or another. Decent piece but nothing earth shattering.
Shank follows that up with an April 17th piece on the Bruins, who are flying high and currently on the verge of sweeping the Montreal Canadiens. Again, a reasonable column ... but no blockbusters.
Then, on April 19th, Shaughnessy appears to write off the Celtics.
But in a compilation article in the wake of the Patriots' Day contests, Danny reverses course and hold out hope for the boys in green.
His production over the past several weeks makes one wonder if his editors are finally holding his feet to the fire ... or if he's auditioning for another job just in case the Globe goes the way of the Rocky Mountain News.
The deckhands on the Titanic work serving food and drinks right up to the last minute.
ReplyDeleteYour pal,
Timmy
Uh oh, typos.
ReplyDeleteSorry, OB, sorry!
Your pal,
Timmy
No worries, Timmy - Superman is coming to the rescue!
ReplyDeleteThe "death of newspapers" has drawn powerful political interest.
Troubled by the possible shuttering of his hometown (cheerleading squad) paper, Sen. John Kerry reached out to the Boston Globe on Tuesday, then called for Senate hearings to address the woes of the nation's print media.
"To the Boston Globe family," the Massachusetts Democrat wrote to employees of the 132-year-old publication, which faces closure unless it can come up with $20 million in union concessions to parent company the New York Times by May 1. The Globe is losing $1 million a week.
(Teresa should have that in spades. Just grab the chequebook!)"America's newspapers are struggling to survive, and while there will be serious consequences in terms of the lives and financial security of the employees involved, including hundreds at the Globe, there will also be serious consequences for our democracy where diversity of opinion and strong debate are paramount," Mr. Kerry said.
Ball sucking lapdog paeans to doctrinaire liberal viewpoints = diversity of opinion? I suppose he's right, on some level...Most newspapers are in similar circumstances as the industry struggles with the worst job losses on record and plummeting revenues. Faced with competition from online and broadcast sources, all papers now seek multimedia ways to deliver their news and monetize their content.
"I am committed to your fight, committed to your industry and committed to ensuring that the vital public service newspapers provide does not disappear," Mr. Kerry told the Globe employees.
Yup, Senator Kerry's in your corner!Lawmakers are witnessing the crisis firsthand. Press watchdogs who once prowled Capitol Hill are disappearing, replaced by special-interest publications and foreign news organizations.
In February, a study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism found that in the past two decades, the number of American news organizations accredited to cover Congress fell by two-thirds - from 564 in 1985 to 160 in early 2007. More cutbacks have been made since then.
Washington once hosted 71 newspaper bureaus; now there are 25. Policy-influencing, special-interest publications and foreign newspapers, however, have multiplied. For example, in 1968, there were 160 foreign journalists in Washington. Now there are nearly 800.
Mr. Kerry, who has called for Senate hearings on "the future of journalism" to begin May 6, also cited the negative influence of "agenda-driven reporting" and media conglomerates.
Translation - criticism of windbag windsurfing Senators with multiple decades of service in the Senate. We can't have that!The new complexities of the marketplace have drawn other interest.
Seeking to parse some potential policy solutions, the House Judiciary courts and competition policy subcommittee held a hearing Tuesday addressing fair competition, new business models and other alternatives for the troubled industry.
"The decline of print newspapers doesn't mean the decline of journalism. What we need to have for journalism is journalists, and lots of them," testified Ben Scott of the Free Press, a nonpartisan group for media reform.
I'm so sure they're 'nonpartisan'..."But we should avoid the temptation to turn to policies that resemble bailouts. We should not relax the antitrust standards to permit further consolidation. The most consolidated newspaper companies are among those in the worst financial shape today," he said.
Last month, Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, Maryland Democrat, introduced the Newspaper Revitalization Act" that would allow papers to operate as nonprofits, prompting many analysts to examine the political implications of the tactic.Funny how it's only Democrats proposing this sort of thing...
Hey, Rog...
ReplyDeleteKerry's been a tool ever since I covered his first Senatrial campaign.
Why should he change his stripes now?
I do laugh when I see one of Shank's columns preceded by a video of him basically reciting the same thing. Clearly, this is an 'old-media' Mastodon playing the role of a 'new-media' journalist. "SEE? I'm doing cutting-edge VIDEO here, so you Interweb people better check your web site numbers, because we're comin' baby! The NEW Boston Globe is comin!"
ReplyDeleteIt couldn't also be that people at the Glob are finally cracking the whip over the backs of the hack Lifers, could it? You know...to leave an impression with readers that they are 'earning' their lifetime UAW-like pay.
What John Kerry MEANS to say: "We NEED The Globe to prop up and coddle us. Forget the perception of illegality with a biased media being paid off by a government it won't challenge or report on accurately. This needs to be done!"
ReplyDeleteAll:
ReplyDeleteI actually believe a one paper town would be a mistake. I want the Globe to survive. I want all newspapers to survive. I like reading the paper with a cup of coffee on a Sunday morning.
What I don't get is why the OBs of the world don't understand the level of animosity toward the paper.
Generations of biased reporting, borderline ethics, and downright arrogance don't go unnoticed. No matter unwashed we masses are.
Marty Baron, man o' the people!
Your pal,
Timmy
The only thing I'm glad about concerning the whole Globe bankruptcy is that its parent company will be forced to sell it's 17% share of the Red Sox, thereby ending the rather embarrassing conflict of interest.
ReplyDeleteI also laugh when I see Shank on video....but it's mostly because he looks like a dried up old prune.....and what's with the hair?...he's still sporting the, "Mike Brady perm" didn't that go out of style in 1979?
ReplyDelete