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Former Globe and Herald columnist David Farrell, a legendary figure in local newspaper circles, has died at the age of 80. (Globe obit here; Herald obit here.)

Farrell epitomized the old-fashioned newspaperman as powerbroker. He surely would have been as well-known as fellow Globe staffers such as Marty Nolan, Robert Healy and the late David Nyhan if he had not left the paper more than two decades ago amid a scandal that seems quaint when measured by what has befallen the business in the intervening years.

Farrell’s son John, a filmmaker, author and local blogger of some note, has posted a nice tribute to his father.

The last I heard, the elder Farrell was writing a history/memoir of the Boston newspaper scene. I hope John Farrell can find a way to bring that project to completion. It’s bound to be a terrific read.

I found yesterday’s citizen journalism conference too amorphous to blog. But if you’re interested in what went on, you’ll find some good resources here, including blog posts, photos and notes typed in live by Doc Searls.

I wouldn’t want to try a day’s worth of real-time typing, as Searls did, so this isn’t a complaint — it’s a correction. If you take a look at this discussion of the legal war against bloggers, you’ll see that I supposedly said, “How much is unique to bloggers? And how much is part of the generalized crackdown on all media? Does being in the media have less protection than it did a week ago?”

In fact, I said, “Does being in the media have less protection than it did a generation ago?”

From Wonkette:

Washington City Paper editor Erik Wemple: his inflated self-importance, use of his paper to settle petty scores, and hilarious two-day-long editorship of the Village Voice (didn’t get along with Christgau or something) must now take a backseat to the hilarious antics of his dogshit-flinging wife.

Sadly, the item kind of goes downhill from there. And for all I know, this is grotesquely unfair to both Wemples. But what a lede!

Never is heard a discouraging word at Massachusetts GOP News. Last week, I made fun of this blogger or bloggers for suggesting that the state Republican Party might be better off if a Democrat were elected governor.

A few days ago, I ran across a response that reads in part:

Among the least provocative responses was from Dan Kennedy at Media Nation who called it a dumb idea and then seemingly proceeded to make the same argument. Another drunken Kennedy I assume.

So I posted a comment that, among other things, asked an innocent question: Is your libel insurance paid up, smartass?

The comment was #7. It’s gone. So is comment #8, which I never got a chance to see. (A defender, perhaps?)

Apparently Mass. GOP News has been taking lessons in how to win an argument from Gregg Jackson — who, by the way, recently took down his blog, although he still posts to Pundit Review.

Update: A response!

Certain comments have been deleted as I wished not to get into a puerile pissing contest with Dan Kennedy from Media Nation. It had nothing to do with his hissy fits; empty threats of libel suits or his name calling.

Assuming my retort will get deleted again, here’s what I just posted:

Well, now. I’m probably “another drunken Kennedy,” but when I try to talk back, I’m engaging in “name calling.” Very interesting. And yes, my threat of a libel suit was completely empty, but what the heck. BTW … care to share what was in Comment #8?

Update II: Deleted again! And, oh yes, I learned from another commenter that #5 has been deleted, too. What was that one about? Wow. Talk about not being able to take it.

As of this moment, Bloglines hasn’t pulled in anything today from Romenesko. On the other hand, NetNewsWire Lite seems to be right up to the minute.

I’ll be at a citizen journalism conference at Harvard today, sponsored by the Center for Citizen Media.

Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy says that because the public is so jaded by juiced-up athletes, Floyd Landis “is not going to get fair treatment. His appeals may extend into 2007, but in the meantime he’s going to be guilty until proven innocent in the court of public opinion.”

What, precisely, would constitute “fair treatment” for an athlete who’s now flunked two tests, and has been found to have synthetic hormone in his system? Landis was innocent until proven guilty. Yesterday he was proven guilty.

Blue Mass. Group has posted a pretty amusing overview of the Herald’s gleeful wallowing in the Globe’s misfortune over the John Keaveney memo.

I’m trying to make more than a half-hearted effort at using Bloglines, a Web-based RSS aggregator. In the past I’ve tested the free NetNewsWire Lite, which resides on your own hard drive, but haven’t liked it enough to keep at it. In theory, a Web-based program is the way to go, so we’ll see.

I definitely like the idea of RSS — it pulls together content from across the Web and lets you read it all in one place. But there are some problems and shortcomings. For instance:

• The most basic: Not all of my favorite blogs have RSS feeds. If a solution’s not comprehensive, then it’s not really much of a solution. (By the way: When Jon Keller gets back from vacation, he should tell the tech folks at Channel 4 to add one to the Keller @ Large blog.)
• Bloglines claims to run no more than an hour behind in grabbing freshly updated content. I’m not sure that’s true. For instance, Josh Marshall posted this little tidbit yesterday morning. It didn’t pop up in my Bloglines list until this morning.
• Some blogs and sites are so well-designed that they’re a pleasure to read. But if content is sent directly to my aggregator, I don’t get to see the actual site. In many cases, I also lack access to comments and other supplemental material unless I leave Bloglines and go directly to the site.
• The left-rail material on Jim Romenesko’s media site doesn’t seem to be part of his RSS feed. That’s a huge omission.

Gee, it sounds like I’m talking myself out of Bloglines, doesn’t it? Not really. I would like to see if it makes my life easier. I’d also be curious to hear from other folks who use/have used aggregators. Just post them here. Of course, you’ll have to go directly to Media Nation to read those comments.

Update: Several commenters say that Keller does have an RSS feed. But they add that they can’t get it to work — and I can’t, either. Also, I’m told that there’s a feed for Romenesko’s left rail, but I can’t find it. Besides, do I really want two feeds for a one-man site?

Update II: OK, I did find the feed for Romenesko’s left rail, and I’ve added it. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Update III: Since I’ve already received a request, here is the RSS feed for Romenesko’s left rail: http://feed43.com/romenesko_sidebar.xml. Enjoy.

I want to call your attention to a couple of stories in this week’s Boston Phoenix:

• On the new-media front, David Bernstein takes a look at the Boston Police Department’s blog, BPD News. According to Bernstein’s reporting, the police have used the blog to spin the local media with disinformation. BPD News responds with an admirably above-the-fray welcome to Phoenix readers.
• This week also marks the debut of a weekly column on how the media are covering this year’s political campaigns. Written by Boston University communications professor John Carroll, with whom I often appear on WGBH-TV/Channel 2’s “Beat the Press” edition of “Greater Boston,” the column features Carroll’s customary meld of wit and substance.