Herald reporter charged in alleged assault

Boston Herald reporter O’Ryan Johnson has been charged with assault and battery following an altercation with a 74-year-old man in a Groveland laundromat, the Eagle-Tribune reports.

The story is leading Romenesko at the moment.

More: It turns out that Johnson was part of an Eagle-Tribune team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003. The Tribune story mentions that Johnson is an alumnus but omits the Pulitzer. Odd oversight.

Johnson’s byline appears on only one of the Pulitzer-winning stories, but it was the first — an account of a tragic accident that claimed the lives of four boys who fell through the ice on the Merrimack River.

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9 thoughts on “Herald reporter charged in alleged assault”

  2. I thought it was a fundamental tenet of the professional journalist to report the news, not BE the news.

  3. "Kicking," "elderly man," "emphysema," "chest," "130 pounds," "boxer" … Interesting how easily the English language allows for commentary even in a straight news story!As for Johnson: My friend used to work at the Herald, though we never discussed his pay. Doesn't the Herald pay enough for a reporter to afford an apartment in South Boston with washer-and-dryer hook-ups? Just wondering.

  4. From todays Herald :Herald Editor in Chief Kevin Convey said, “Like anybody else, O’Ryan is entitled to the presumption of innocence and we’ll let the legal system take its course.”"Like anybody else"? They can shrink the paper again if they apply that standard.BTW-I found the article by searching for "Groveland" on the Herald search engine.

  5. I know O'Ryan, a little, anyway. I'd be surprised if there wasn't more to this story.The girl he was with is certainly his daughter — don't know if that means anything vis-a-vis this story.He's, as far as I know, an honorably discharged marine and a fearless reporter. This behavior doesn't sound like him at all .

  6. I don't think that being an honorably discharged ex-Marine particularly speaks to what this man is alleged to have done.The evidence will either show him to be the perpetrator or it won't.It really doesn't matter what his background might be.If he is found guilty, then he is a thug.

  7. People are rioting in Iran, two American journalists are being held hostage in North Korea, and those same Koreans are threatening to light up Alaska and/or Hawai'i on Independence Day. Please tell me why I should be interested in a dustup at a laundromat.

  8. don, american, i can guarantee you'd be gleefully piling on if it was a globe or nyt reporter who had a 2-s deferment in vietnam. me, amoeba.

  9. Maybe the little girl was his daughter.Maybe the "old, helpless man" in the story is a crazy old fart.Maybe the old man came at O'Ryan and O'Ryan stepped in between the man and his daughter.Maybe O'Ryan didn't kick him in the chest unless he did a flying roundhouse kick (which would actually be quite impressive due to athletic ability alone).Maybe reporters that don't like O'Ryan have taken this chance to write bad things about him.This might be crazy, but just maybe…

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