A bookstore starts publishing reviews — but that’s not the only way book journalism is being kept alive

Public domain photo via rawpixel.

As Sophie Culpepper correctly observes at Nieman Lab, book reviews in the mainstream press are fading away, with The Washington Post folding its standalone books section and The Associated Press getting rid of reviews.

Now Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has taken matters into its own hands. Culpepper reports that co-owner Josh Cook has launched something called the Porter Square Review of Books, which is publishing one review every week or so. Cook tells Culpepper:

A lot of bookselling is the first couple steps of writing a book review anyway. You assess it to see if you like it, you figure out how you’re going to describe it to other people, you decide whether you’re going to finish it … We already are part of the way there. Why not just see if we could do it?

It’s a positive step, but it’s hardly the only innovative attempt at keeping book reviews alive. So let me remind you of a couple that I’ve mentioned during the past several years.

📚 Midbrow, originally the Independent Review Crew, is a nonprofit project launched by New Haven Independent founder Paul Bass in 2023. Midbrow’s mission is to revive arts and culture reviewing across all genres — including books — in the spirit of the old alternative press. (Bass himself wrote about politics for the now-defunct New Haven Advocate for many years.)

Midbrow’s content is published on its own website and in eight cities that have correspondents. Boston is not among them at the moment, although in the past there was a local writer whose work was republished by Universal Hub. Bass talked about Midrow with Ellen Clegg and me on our podcast, “What Works: The Future of Local News,” around the time of its launch.

📚 The Arts Fuse, begun in 2007, offers high-brow arts criticism — again, including books — in the spirit of the late, great Boston Phoenix, where founder Bill Marx was a longtime critic and where I worked for many years as the media columnist. I’m an occasional contributor to The Arts Fuse, and in fact I’m working on a book review for Marx right now. The nonprofit, according to its website, is “a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries.”

📚 Marx is also a co-founder of Viva la Book Review, a nonprofit project aimed at fostering “thoughtful, well-crafted book criticism in community news media across the country,” as Ellen and I put it in our introduction to Marx’s appearance on “What Works” in 2025. We had a great conversation about how book reviewing intersects with local news.

📚 Finally, another former Phoenix colleague of mine, acclaimed author Nina MacLaughlin, started an email newsletter after The Boston Globe short-sightedly dropped her Sunday column about local book news. MacLaughlin now writes essentially the same column on her own. She doesn’t write reviews; rather, she rounds up news about literary happenings in Boston and across the region. It’s called New England Literary News, and yes, you should subscribe.

Raises for everyone, Susan Goldberg tells GBH employees in an upbeat end-of-the-fiscal-year message

Photo (cc) 2019 by Dan Kennedy.

A trusted source just sent along an unexpectedly upbeat message to the staff from Susan Goldberg, CEO of GBH, one of Boston’s two major news-focused public media outlets.

GBH has been cutting local programming since before Donald Trump and the Republican Congress zeroed out funding for public media. It’s also added some back, and it recently completed a merger with New England Public Media in Western Massachusetts. But it was only in March that Goldberg told Boston Globe media reporter Aidan Ryan that she was interested in merging (sub. req.) with GBH’s main rival, WBUR — something that the latter’s general manager, Margaret Low, sounded distinctly uninterested in.

Anyway, Goldberg emphasizes the positive in her missive to employees, writing that GBH has broken fundraising records, added 50,000 members and supporters, and created news business models, especially on YouTube. And she puts the operation’s money where her mouth is, annoucing 3% across-the-board raises. Her full message follows.

Folks,

It was just over 11 months ago that Congress clawed back $1.1 billion from public media — a vote that ultimately cost GBH alone some $20 million a year. And that doesn’t count the millions of dollars we also lost when a different federal program that paid for children’s programming was suspended.

Without a doubt, it was a big hit.

Today, a week away from the close of FY26, we officially can celebrate what has turned out to be a remarkable and enormously successful year. Despite that rocky start — and because of your hard work, ingenuity, and determination —  we:

— Broke fundraising records across the board, at every giving level, age range, geography, and platform.

— Added more than 50,000 new members and supporters (with half signing up as sustainers), bringing total membership among GBH, NEPM, and CAI to more than 250,000.

— Gained efficiencies and synergies by breaking down silos, including the new documentary unit (especially with digital strategies), and the merger with NEPM, which will allow true collaborations statewide on everything from news to development to marketing.

— Began in earnest to create new business models, including an advertising strategy on YouTube, a broader footprint for sponsorship across platforms, and the formation of a brand studio.

— Kept a tight rein on expenses and hiring, operating nimbly across the organization. Keep it up!

— Expanded our excellent, relevant, and, at times, revelatory storytelling, with new programs and dramas designed to make a difference — and attract audiences and attention.

We are delighted to be able to acknowledge these financial and creative successes with across-the-board raises of 3% — approved by our Board of Trustees at their June meeting — and, additionally, bonuses tied to individual performance.

We are proud of what we have accomplished, and thrilled a year that started in a trough ended in a triumph. None of it would have happened without you.

As we turn our attention to FY27, we have the opportunity to be proactive — rather than just reactive — about our goals. The last year gives us an incredible foundation on which to build, and there is much exciting work ahead to cement and multiply these gains.

This year should remind us that people of all ages and stages believe in our mission, and that they’ll take direct action to keep it, helping us expand our work on every platform — for kids, communities, news junkies, music buffs, documentary watchers, social media followers, and more.

As I think about the last 12 months, I feel inspired by where we’ve been — and energized about where we’re going. I hope you feel the same way.

Thank you again for all you did to make it possible, and congratulations.

Susan

A perfect summation of the challenge to journalism in the Age of Trump

Photo (cc) 2017 by Matt Brown.

Fintan O’Toole’s review in The New York Times of Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump” includes a perfect summation of the fundamental challenge to journalism in the Age of Trump:

The profession is shaped by an assumption that has been around at least since the Greek tragedians: Revelation is followed by reversal. When Oedipus’ (or Richard Nixon’s) crimes are exposed, he must fall from power. But not so Trump. With a few notable exceptions, he relies on a collective shrug of indifference from those in his support system, and defies exposure. What can journalists do in a world where there is no shame and, apparently, no consequence?

It calls to mind then-Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron’s well-known response to a question about whether the Post was at war with Trump. “We’re not at war with the administration, we’re at work,” he replied — a succinct statement of how journalists should approach their coverage.

And yet none of it has mattered.

Looking back at how John Yemma reinvented The Christian Science Monitor

John Yemma, at the far end of the conference table, presides over a news meeting at The Christian Science Monitor. Photo (cc) 2011 by Dan Kennedy.

John Yemma, the retired top editor of The Christian Science Monitor, whose journalism career was long and distinguished, died June 10 at 74. If you’re a Boston Globe subscriber, I recommend this obituary, written by Bryan Marquard wrote. If not, you should read this.

Yemma filled a number of top positions at the Globe, but it was at the Monitor that I got to spend some time with him in reporting a 2009 story for CommonWealth Magazine (now CommonWealth Beacon) about his plans to reinvent the venerable newspaper for the digital age. He struck me as someone who is fundamentally serene and kind, confirmed by the tributes I’ve seen pouring in for him the past few days.

The basics of Yemma’s plan for the Monitor are still in place: a daily email newsletter; a digital-first approach to covering the news; and a weekly print magazine gathering the best of the Monitor’s journalism. The Monitor’s journalistic approach might be described as calm and solutions-oriented, and it remains a first-rate news organization. Here’s what I wrote in 2009.

Second life

The Christian Science Monitor reinvents itself for the digital age

CommonWealth Magazine | Jan. 20, 2009

Sometime this April, one of New England’s most venerable daily newspapers will cease to be a daily newspaper.

The Christian Science Monitor, which marked its 100th anniversary this past November, is beginning its second century as a multi-platform, multimedia news organization. Central to this new identity will be its free website, CSMonitor.com, begun a dozen years ago and now freed from the constraints of the daily print cycle. The website, in turn, will be supplemented by a daily email edition and a weekly, subscriber-supported magazine.

Though the transformation has long been anticipated, it nevertheless represents a signal moment for the five-days-a-week paper, whose circulation exceeded 230,000 at its peak in the early 1970s. (It’s currently around 55,000.) A few small, local papers have abandoned their daily print editions, but the Monitor is the first national paper to do so.

Read the rest at CommonWealth Beacon.

Sports pioneer Eddie Andelman dies at 89. In 1997, I profiled him for Northeastern Magazine.

Eddie Andelman. Boston Herald Radio photo via YouTube.

Sports radio pioneer Eddie Andelman has died at 89. I grew up listening to Andelman, and in 1997 I had a chance to write a profile of him for Northeastern Magazine, which was Northeastern University’s alumni publication at the time; Andelman earned his MBA in 1962.

An anecdote that didn’t make it into the story: In the summer of 1975, Andelman, who was then a contributor to one of the local TV stations, was standing outside Park Station, offering $5 to anyone who could spell “Yastrzemski.” I nailed it, and appeared on the news that evening.

Like all of us, Andelman had his good and bad sides. I was glad that the magazine didn’t insist on hagiography, although in retrospect I wish we had described a racist joke Andelman told on the air as, you know, racist. As you’ll see, we settled on “outrageous.” It was worse than that, and that’s not just on him but on me and my editor, too.

Getting a handle on Eddie Andelman

Northeastern Magazine | May 1997

It’s a few minutes before airtime, and Eddie Andelman, MBA’62, is going over some final instructions with one of his producers.

“You got any of that holy music?” Andelman asks. The producer replies in the affirmative. Andelman runs down the list. A burst of “The Hallelujah Chorus”? Check. Hank Williams singing “Jambalaya”? Check.

Continue reading “Sports pioneer Eddie Andelman dies at 89. In 1997, I profiled him for Northeastern Magazine.”

A Muzzle to Ken Paxton for targeting a Mass. company in his Texas Senate campaign against James Talarico

James Talarico speaks at a rally in Texas. Photo (cc) 2025 by H. Michael Karshis.

If you lean left and have ever “liked” a liberal social media post, you and your email inbox are probably familiar — oh, so familiar — with ActBlue, a platform that serves as a fundraising platform for Democratic candidates. And it’s only worse if you’ve actually donated to a candidate — something I don’t do because I’m a journalist.

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But if you’ve wished that ActBlue would just go away, be careful. Ken Paxton, the floridly corrupt Republican Senate candidate from Texas, wants you to believe that he’s coming to your rescue. Acting in his capacity as his state’s attorney general, he sued ActBlue in December 2023. Now he’s trying to use that suit as a cudgel in his campaign to defeat his Democratic opponent, James Talarico. So far, that suit isn’t going anywhere.

Continue reading “A Muzzle to Ken Paxton for targeting a Mass. company in his Texas Senate campaign against James Talarico”

A Muzzle Award for a Rhode Island official who says arrest records aren’t public if there are no charges

Boston Globe reporter Amanda Milkovits, left, talks about her reporting with WPRI-TV (Channel 12) anchor Kayla Fish.

When police officers arrest someone and charge them with a crime, they are required to provide the public with information on that person’s name, address and the charges being brought. That’s a basic part of the public records law in Rhode Island and most other states.

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But the Rhode Island attorney general’s office has come up with a mind-boggling exception: if someone is arrested and not charged, then the police are under no obligation to make that information public. According to Boston Globe reporter Amanda Milkovits, that’s the alleged loophole being invoked (sub. req.) in the case of James Barsoum, who was arrested by Pawtucket police last September in Central Falls. As Milkovits writes:

Last fall, Pawtucket police officers went into a neighboring city without alerting the local police, tackled a resident in his home, seized his dog, booked the man, and put him in a jail cell. He was released hours later without being charged with a crime — and without an explanation.

The official who has come up with this novel interpretation of the public records law is Special Assistant Attorney General Patrick Reynolds, who explained that he was rejecting the Globe’s request for records related to Barsoum’s arrest because even though “there is a public interest in what transpired here, and that the mistaken arrest of a member of the public is highly concerning,” that is outweighed by “privacy interests” guaranteed by a law sealing records when a person has not been charged with a crime.

So come on down, Patrick Reynolds, and claim your New England Muzzle Award. It is well-deserved.

As for Barsoum’s “privacy interests,” keep in mind that he’s been interviewed (sub. req.) about his ordeal, allowed himself to be photographed (with his dog, by the way) and filed a complaint about his arrest. Keep in mind, too, that Central Falls police complied with the Globe’s public-records request, including providing bodycam video. It’s only the Pawtucket police who are holding back, and the AG’s office is letting them get away with it.

“Police in this state can break into your house, wrongfully arrest you, and never have to explain themselves to the communities they serve,” Justin Silverman, the executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, told the Globe. “Think about that: So long as charges aren’t brought, arrests can occur in secrecy and the police reports can be permanently sealed or destroyed. It’s a situation ripe for abuse.”

How a team of Northeastern journalism students covered the aftermath of Hurricane Helene

The Northeastern team behind “Caught in the Current.” Back row from left: Azariah Baker, Beck Orten, Grace Sawin, Hayes Botnick. Middle row from left: Mia Filler, Ali Caudle, Professor Carlene Hempel, Namira Haris, Claire Ogden. Front row from left: Sydney Woogerd, Eva Ciolek Passeri, Valentina Gutierrez.

On the latest “What Works” podcast, Ellen Clegg and I talk with Professor Carlene Hempel at Northeastern and her student Sydney Woogerd. This spring, Carlene brought a team of student journalists to Asheville, North Carolina, for a week-long intensive reporting trip that focused on the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

The result: a digital multimedia investigation called “Caught in the Current: Helene Recovery in Asheville and Beyond.” Put simply, this is a stunning project, with podcasts, videos, photos and text. There’s a great soundtrack. Please do yourself a favor and spend some time with it.

Carlene has been a journalism professor at Northeastern University for more than 20 years. She specializes in teaching long-form narrative writing as well as creating on-site, pop-up newsrooms domestically and abroad for her courses. Her 2025 reporting class and resulting magazine about the 10-year anniversary of Flint, Michigan’s water crisis won two national reporting awards. 

From Sydney Woogerd’s story “Lost and Found.”

Sydney is studying journalism and international affairs at Northeastern University with a focus on multimedia storytelling. She serves as co-photo director for The Avenue, a student-led fashion publication, where she directs visual strategy and creates editorial content. She has also contributed to The Huntington News and Artistry Magazine as a writer and photographer documenting community stories across Boston. Sydney served as the project’s photo editor.

I’ve got a Quick Take about our recent What Works webinar on “Audience, AI and Events” for local-news publishers, journalists and volunteers. If you missed it, you can watch the videos here.

Ellen shares five lessons learned from watching how the projects that were subjects of our book, “What Works in Community News,” have evolved.

You can listen to our conversation here, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcast app.

How AI-generated local news coverage undermines those who are trying to do it the right way

Illustration via Pixabay.

I’m sorry, but this is just appalling. South Shore News, which uses AI to generate lifelike stories about local government meetings in 19 communities south of Boston, is rolling out subscription fees — and some people are actually paying.

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Aidan Ryan reports (sub. req.) in The Boston Globe that Justin Evans, the founder and and editor as well as a Whitman selectboard member, has signed up 350 paid subscribers, “many of whom are deeply invested in town politics and want to learn more about how neighboring towns from Weymouth down to Plymouth are tackling common issues.”

Continue reading “How AI-generated local news coverage undermines those who are trying to do it the right way”