Boston Globe editorial-page editor Renée Loth marks her departure with a classy farewell. Good to see she’s going to write her new weekly column a short walk away from the Statehouse. Local politics has always been her passion, and her scrutiny will be welcome.
A few pieces of unsolicited advice for Loth: (1) start a blog; (2) use it, along with Twitter and Facebook, to converse with your readers; (3) learn how to shoot and edit Web video. Not only will such activities not detract from your column, but they’ll end up giving you more material than you’d have otherwise.
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Let's just hope that Peter Canellos comes close to what Loth has accomplished in that seat. But before she leaves, perhaps she could resurrect the power of coaxing the sun out after an interminable period of rain. Please?
re: rainWhen asked to do something about the weather, the minister across the road says, "I'm in sales, not management."zzzzzz
Ah yes, Twitter. Let us communicate impulsively by hedline, whether it matters or not.On the other hand, Twitter may bring back the Phillips Code. Safire's take a dozen years ago at http://tinyurl.com/NYTmagPhillips see the code itself at http://www.qsl.net/ae0q/phillip1.htm Maybe even speaking in Unipress will return. We'll upsend to Twitter, that's what we'll do. Complete .pdf of Richard Hartnett's "Wirespeak" in link at Unipresser alum site http://www.downhold.org22
No one was more responsible for the Globe's liberal editorial bias than Ms. Loth. How many readers itcost the Globe we'll never know.Perhaps her departure was a quid pro guo of aserious buyer.
Arthur: Fifteen years ago, the Globe had 550,000 daily readers and no online readers. Today it has 300,000 daily online readers and 5 million unique visitors a month to its Web site.So tell us … how many readers did Loth cost the Globe? Uh, maybe zero?
Dan: I'm talking about paying readers/subscribers.Web site readers bring in no money..maybe some forthe advertisers.arthur
Arthur: What are you telling us? That readers stopped paying for the Globe because they didn't like the liberal slant of the editorial page, but they continued to read it online for free? Why? As a form of protest?And where did they go? They didn't gravitate to the Herald. Local papers have lost circulation as well. Help us out here, Arthur. What did Loth do to the circulation of the Globe at a time when the Herald, local papers and virtually every paper in the country were losing massive amounts of paid circulation?
Some probably gravitated to the Boston Metro (which the Globe shot itself in the foot by subsidizing, Again,reading most newspapers on-line is free. Readers do not have to invest their money where the editorialposture of the paper is one they do not agree with.I look at the Huffington Post, Washington Times but would not want to subscribe to them.arthur
An editorial page should have a slant. The writers need to take a stand and to advocate. That is the job of editorial writers (and columnists). As long as readers understand the divide between the editorial page and the newsroom (at least in a big-city daily, and at least in theory), then they're still able to subscribe to, or read online, a newspaper while disagreeing with it's editorial positions.
Renee Loth, by the way, got her start — as did several others who went on to be prominent in Boston journalistic circles — at the East Boston Community News, a neighborhood bi-weekly tabloid of the 1970s and 1980s that was a great example of a local activist newspaper.
I recall her days at the statehouse working the Bureau for The Globe. She was always amiable and willing to listen. She was no investigative reporter and shied away from those type of stories.I also recall her work for CSpan covering national political campaigns and did good work.However,her stint on the editorial page was confusing allowing the likes of the insurers always space even to the point of looking like ads for that special interest group. During her tenure whistleblowers, those trying to expose waste, fraud,abuse in government, business, labor and those outside the establisment or the wealthy business of the Human Services advocacy needed not to apply to the editorial page or expect "Fair and Balance".Renee is a great writer and hopefully in her next phase will be a bright example of good if not great journalism.http://oversightwatchmassachusetts.blogspot.com/