Thank God we’re a two-newspaper town*

From today’s Globe:

If he pleads guilty in federal court to obstruction of justice as expected this morning, Massachusetts Biotechnology Council president Thomas M. Finneran would become a felon and could face disbarment — but could also survive as president of the state’s top life-science lobby….

Yesterday, members of the biotechnology council’s board were wrestling with how to deal with a possible guilty plea, forcing them to weigh Finneran’s clout as a leader against the public-relations cost of keeping him as chief spokesman for their industry.

From today’s Herald:

Disgraced former House Speaker Tom Finneran’s expected guilty plea to obstruction of justice charges today will keep him out of jail but has jeopardized his job, pension and future as an attorney.

Sources told the Herald Finneran will leave his $500,000-a-year post at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council as a result of his pending felony conviction. It was unclear last night whether Finneran will resign or be forced out of the post.

*With apologies, as always, to Boston Magazine, even though it hasn’t resuscitated the feature in quite some time. And thanks to Media Nation reader T.W. for the tipoff.

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9 thoughts on “Thank God we’re a two-newspaper town*”

  3. Other than the on-going blatant pro-Democrat, anti-Catholic bigotry in the Globe, what’s so unusual about either story?So the Globe doesn’t mention the automatic loss of Tommy Taxes’ state pension and clings to the hope that he could remain in his job at the biotechnology council. The “irrelevant” Herald reveals the potential loss of pension and finds a source that indicates Finneran will either resign or be forced out of said job. Other than that, the stories (or at least the snippets above) are similar. No surprise that the Globe would give the benefit of the doubt to the Democrat. On the church issue, the above boston.com link didn’t work for me but I did read Brian McGrory’s column, “Church deal infuriates” which predictably scandalized the Catholic’s real estate deal and even had an Archdiocese spokesman “sputtering” to explain it. The Herald more realistically puts the focus on the photographer who bought the church after claiming he was going to use it as his studio, but actually had a secret side deal in place before closing with the Archdiocese.Missing from both McGrory’s Catholic bashing and the more balanced Herald piece is the obvious, but never asked question. Who the heck is running the show at the Universal Church of New York City? The Archdiocese of Boston has been consolidating parishes and selling churches for years now. Why is the UC of NYC negotiating with a middleman and paying $1,800,000 more than they should have? Of course asking such questions and bashing a Protestant Church isn’t quite as fun, nor as socially acceptable, as bashing the Catholics. Thank God indeed that it’s a two paper town, but there isn’t much new on the Globe’s slant. The guilty Democrat gets a helping hand while the Catholic Church, which appears to be innocent in this case, gets another journalistic iron-fist.

  4. I wonder if O-fish-l and Jeff Jacoby know each other.So, Oafish – exposing decades of sexual abuse of children is “catholic bashing”?

  5. Absent from O-fish-l’s post is any mention of the Herald’s blood lust for Finneran. For far too many years, I’ve listened to my conservative friends bemoan the Globe’s liberal, anti-Republican, anti-Catholic, anti-Semetic, anti-Hingham, anti-Worcester, anti-all bias. And I’ve listend to my liberal friends grouse about the conservative, anti-liberal, anti-government, anti-education, anti-Democrat and overall knee-jerked-ness of the Herald.Basta!Quibbling over which paper hates which group with more gusto was not Mr. Kennedy’s point here. That you have two newspapers reporting on one story from different points of view is invaluable. Are both newspapers flawed? Of course. But what of it? Informed, intelligent citizens undestand that before glancing at the morning’s headlines.I really, R E A L L Y hope the Herald manages to hold on. We all benefit from two newspapers, two newsradio stations, NECN, WCVB, CBS4, WHDH, The Phoenix, The Christian Science Monitor and Boston Magazine.Still lamenting the loss of Chris Lydon and Carmen Fields on the first “10 O’Clock News,”Vox

  6. mr. fish makes a lot of confident assertions about things he truly knows nothing about. perhaps this is because he sees just what he wants to see. case in point: this line …”Missing from both McGrory’s Catholic bashing and the more balanced Herald piece is the obvious, but never asked question. Who the heck is running the show at the Universal Church of New York City?”… in fact, mr. fish, the herald published a full sidebar on the outside church (in fact called the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, based in Brazil) that bought the parish property. perhaps you might read it before belching forth onto a public blog. just a thought.and yes, we need both papers and more — this blog, the radio, the tv, the interwebs, etc. — for the reasons mr. vox lays forth.

  7. anon 12:42: Thanks for the update and personal insults but if the “Herald sidebar” answered my question, please spill the beans. In need of a place of worship, why did the Universal Church negotiate with a (sometimes) Globe photographer instead of the Catholic archdiocese, an organization that was liquidating dozens of churches in a very well publicized way? My original question was who the heck is running the Universal Church? Or in other words, how could they be so easily hoodwinked and why wasn’t their incompetence part of the story?My Friday Herald has already been taken by the recycling truck, so since you have all the answers, kindly tell me how the Herald answered my original question.Gratefully,o-fish-l

  8. Yes it is truly wonderful that we are a two-newspaper town. Otherwise we would not get to read O’Ryan Johnson’s sidebar about MBTA “maintenance away” workers and the Brotherhood of Maintenance Away Employees”Perhaps employment on the maintenance of way crew would help the lad’s fact-checking.The really disturbing aspect about such an embarrassing bit of stupidity is that not only did he have direct quotes from a union official, but the correct reference was right there in the main story.Maintenance away indeed.

  9. I don’t see where mr. fish has been insulted, inasmuch as he has simply been corrected. mr. fish should do his own homework and not demand it of others. Ms. “amused” is apparently someone of the ilk who steps onto the battlefield after the fighting and shoots the wounded to death. johnson’s reporting for that herald coverage of the train wreck was comprehensive and superhuman. He went up against a half-dozen globe reporters at once and beat them by sheer hard work and determination. his editors let him down by allowing a typo through in his sidebar. Amusing, never having had to perform at this level, or any level, tries to draw honor by kicking that typo in the groin. hatred of this kind is a wretched trait.

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