Media Nation

Does this make Ann Coulter better or worse? Worse, I’d say.

The spam attack appears to be over, and I have turned off comment moderation.

When the going gets tough, President Bush trots out the gay-marriage bogeyman. Bush got exactly what he wanted this week. The constitutional ban that he supposedly backs was easily defeated, thus giving him a chance to excite his dwindling base while keeping the issue low-profile enough so as not to alienate normal Americans.

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post put it nicely: “What uncharted realm lies beyond brazen cynicism? A wasteland of utter shamelessness, perhaps?”

But if Bush’s motives are obvious enough, what’s the deal with Peter Steinfels? The New York Times religion columnist devotes an entire piece today to exploring the notion that legal recognition of same-sex marriage could violate the First Amendment rights of religious conservatives.

I’m not going to take on Steinfels’ microanalysis of whether an evangelical Christian college might be forced to allow married same-sex couples to occupy its dorms or lose its tax-exempt status. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there is some chance of that happening.

Rather, let me address the macro argument that seems to elude Steinfels: Whose religion? There are, in fact, mainstream religious organizations in this country that support the right of same-sex marriage. The fact that Unitarian Universalist clergy may only perform such marriages in Massachusetts is just as much a violation of religious liberty as the hypothetical examples cited by Steinfels. (Disclosure: I’m a UU.) Reform Jews, Congregationalists and members of several other denominations also support same-sex marriage — or, at least, oppose a constitutional amendment.

Next time Steinfels chooses to write about this topic, he might consult the Web site of an organization called Clergy for Fairness, and ask some of the leaders how their religious liberty is being threatened by the likes of Pat Robertson, James Dobson and, yes, President Bush.

My friend Susan Ryan-Vollmar writes in Bay Windows this week: “Civil marriage rights are a civil rights issue and a moral issue. One of the reasons why we have succeeded here in Massachusetts is because the issue has been framed in those terms.”

By failing to frame it as a moral issue elsewhere, gay-marriage advocates allow their opponents to claim morality for themselves — and they allow journalists such as Steinfels to be led astray. Yes, Steinfels quotes liberals who think the notion of a constitutional clash is real, and no, I don’t doubt that it could happen. But there are Americans are being denied their religious liberties right now, and Steinfels should have paid attention to them, too.

Coulter cracks up

Sorry for the late hit, but I’m accustomed to ignoring Ann Coulter. But watch this, and ask yourself why anyone ever invites her to appear anywhere.

Michael Graham reproves his worthlessness here.

I am going to moderate comments for a while in order to stop a flood of comment spam that’s coming in. No, not you, Mike. A robot has managed to penetrate Blogger’s word-verification system and is posting long lists of pornographic links to old posts. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I tuned in Jon Keller’s report on independent gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos’ running mate tonight more for a laugh than anything. I did laugh, but it was with delight.

I know John Sullivan. He was town moderator in Winchester back in the late 1970s and early ’80s, when I was covering Winchester for the Daily Times Chronicle of Woburn. He was terrific — smart, dry and charming. When town meeting would drag on night after night, week after week, as was sometimes the case in Winchester, Sullivan was the only entertainment available.

Frank Phillips has posted the official announcement.

Off the top of my head I can’t even tell you how an independent candidate for lieutenant governor would get elected. There’s no primary, so I guess Sullivan automatically wins if Mihos somehow manages to defeat his major-party rivals.

Too bad Sullivan can’t get elected lieutenant governor in his own right. He’d certainly have my vote.

Even if no rational person believes that the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi will end the violence in Iraq, it’s certainly good news that he’s been killed. John Burns of the New York Times reports on the raid that ended in Zarqawi’s death. Writing in the Washington Post, Ellen Knickmeyer and Jonathan Finer assert:

His killing is the most significant public triumph for the U.S.-led coalition since the 2003 capture of Saddam Hussein, although analysts warned that Zarqawi’s killing would not stem the tide of insurgency and violence in Iraq any more than Hussein’s capture did.

Al-Jazeera runs a chilling piece on the reaction of Zarqawi’s family. Zarqawi’s older brother is quoted as saying, “We expected that he would be martyred. We hope that he will join other martyrs in heaven.” That’s the problem: There’s no shortage of the hatred that created Zarqawi.

Rory Carroll writes in the Guardian:

We can assume that al-Qaida in Iraq will attempt reprisal attacks as soon as possible, to show it is still in business; also that the organisation will operate at less than full steam while it tries to fill its leadership void.

Beyond that, the significance of this week’s US strike on Baquba, 40 miles north of the capital, is difficult to gauge. Too much mythology, too much spin, encrusts the name Zarqawi to know at this stage whether his death is a turning point or a footnote.

Writing for the Daily Standard, Dan Darling, a “counterterrorism expert,” calls Zarqawi “one of the most accomplished mass murderers in the modern history of terrorism.” Yet Darling concedes that the extent of Zarqawi’s power and influence have always been something of a mystery. Darling concludes:

Zarqawi’s death is unlikely to prove the immediate end of either al Qaeda in Iraq or the Iraqi insurgency, as Zarqawi was, by his own account, only a servant or representative of al Qaeda’s international terrorist organization. Yet it must be noted that Zarqawi was also a monster of unspeakable proportions. The United States, its coalition allies, and the new Iraqi government have much to be thankful for in bringing an end to this mass murderer’s career.

Well, that’s certainly true. And not just mass murder: up close and personal, too, as Zarqawi was believed to have personally been involved in beheading hostages. Zarqawi’s death may have little more than symbolic value, but symbolism matters.

The Boston Herald was whacked today with two separate accusations of lifting material from other publications without giving credit.

In the stranger of the two incidents, the Huffington Post reveals that the Inside Track (barely) rewrote an Editor & Publisher item about — yes! — plagiarism. Trackster Gayle Fee says she was in a rush and concedes that she should have credited E&P. The item appears to have been removed from the Herald’s Web site. (Via Romenesko.)

Also today, the Weekly Dig has documented some close similarities between a Herald story on people who answer their cell phones even when they’re not ringing and a New York Times story on the same subject. London’s Daily Telegraph appears to have been a source, too.

Meanwhile, Herald publisher Pat Purcell tells the Boston Business Journal that he hasn’t ruled out free distribution (although he’s skeptical), and that he’d love to outsource his printing so that he no longer has to rely on presses that are, in some cases, 50 years old.

GateHouse Media’s acquisition of Community Newspaper Co. (CNC) and Enterprise NewsMedia is now complete, according to a statement by GateHouse CEO Mike Reed.

GateHouse — formerly Liberty Group Publishing — is paying a reported $400 million to buy the 100-newspaper-plus CNC chain from Boston Herald publisher Pat Purcell, as well as the Enterprise NewsMedia’s holdings: the Patriot Ledger of Quincy, the Enterprise of Brockton and 23 affiliated weekly papers on the South Shore and in Old Colony.

As Media Nation predicted, Kirk Davis is back big-time, as he has been named to run the business operations of the combined groups. Davis was the top business executive of CNC when it was owned by Fidelity, but left not long after Purcell bought the company in 2001. Until today, he’s held a lower-profile position as chief executive of Enterprise NewsMedia.

Now Davis instantly becomes one of the most powerful newspaper executives in Eastern Massachusetts, rivaling Richard Gilman, who runs the Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette for the New York Times Co., as well as the Times Co.’s minority stake in Metro Boston and the New England Sports Network.

The complete text of Reed’s statement follows:

I’m pleased to announce that we have successfully closed on our acquisition of CP Media Inc. (Community Newspaper Company) and Enterprise NewsMedia LLC. Thank you for your patience as we worked diligently and expeditiously to complete the purchase. On behalf of the management and employees of GateHouse Media, we welcome you and look forward to a successful transition and promising future.

Effective today, I am also pleased to announce that Kirk Davis, CEO, President and Publisher of Enterprise NewsMedia LLC, will assume the additional responsibilities of CEO, President and Publisher of Community Newspaper Company (CNC). Kirk will report directly to me. I’m also pleased to announce that Greg Rush, Chief Operating Officer and Associate Publisher of CNC will continue in his current role, reporting to Kirk.

Kirk has been in the community newspaper industry for over 20 years. He has served in his current role since 2004. Prior to joining Enterprise NewsMedia, Kirk served as a senior executive at Community Newspaper Company from 1995 through 2001. He held the position of president and publisher from 1998 through 2001. He understands the local newspaper business extremely well, the Boston market extremely well and recognizes our potential to grow and better serve our readers and advertisers.

Throughout this process, I’ve been impressed with the management team members I’ve met from Enterprise NewsMedia and CNC. In addition, I’ve been very impressed with the overall companies that all of you have been instrumental in assembling. Both companies have great newspapers and great businesses. I’m confident that, under Kirk’s leadership, we can build on our proud tradition of being the region’s premier provider of local news and information.

I look forward to supporting your efforts however I can be of help. Again, we feel privileged to have acquired both companies and look forward to getting started.

I understand Kirk is planning a series of employee meetings in July. I’ll look forward to attending some of those meetings. It’s our intent to keep you apprised of our progress.
Thank you!

GateHouse Media is in the process of moving from Illinois to Rochester, N.Y. And, by the way, the aforementioned Greg Rush is Purcell’s son-in-law. Purcell needs to maintain the content-sharing arrangement he has with CNC. Rush’s presence should help ensure that.

And keep an eye on what’s next. Reed is the former chief executive of the Alabama-based Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., which last year purchased the Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence, the Daily News of Newburyport, the Salem News and the Gloucester Daily Times.

As I said in my earlier item, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see those four papers added to GateHouse’s holdings in, say, the next year or two. That would create an unprecedented newspaper behemoth in Eastern Massachusetts, with the Globe, the Herald and the Telegram & Gazette functioning as the group’s only significant rivals.

Is this kind of giantism good for community journalism? Of course not. Davis has always struck me as a well-intentioned guy who cares about the news to the extent that the cost of gathering it doesn’t exceed the miserly budgets set by ownership. But where is the localism in all this?

Yes, local coverage will be the bread and butter of the CNC/Enterprise group. Wicked Local, an experiment over which Davis has presided, is promising. But for those of us who believe that local ownership matters, today’s announcement is just another example of what’s gone wrong in the newspaper business.

Ownership concerns aside, though, I’m actually optimistic that the new owners have deep enough pockets to improve their new papers. Let’s hope.

Christopher Hitchens, deep into self-parody, writes a piece for Slate called “Why Haditha isn’t My Lai.” He’s absolutely right, of course. This is 2006, not 1968, which obviously makes the two incidents significantly different. And let’s not forget that Vietnam is part of Indochina, whereas Iraq is in the Middle East.

Hitchens, sharp analyst that he is, also notes that the alleged atrocities in Haditha just took a few minutes, whereas William Calley and company spent all day slaughtering civilians in Vietnam. Also, the Viet Cong were much, much nicer than those nasty Iraqi and Islamist insurgents.

You will not be surprised to learn that Mark Steyn is traveling down the same road as Hitchens. Peter Daou captures Steyn and Hitchens perfectly: “Steyn is a self-styled ‘conservative’ worshipped by many on the right for his Hitchens-esque turns of phrase (no, not a compliment) …” But read the whole thing — Daou’s got some classic lines in there.

The charges regarding Haditha have not been proved. But if they’re true, or substantially true, then the analogy to My Lai will be perfect — tragically so.