Boston Globe – Media Nation

The Saturday-night shooting at the WHCA dinner underscores the declining relevance of print

I hear from so many people that they can’t live without their print newspaper and morning coffee that I’m often tempted to remind them it’s technically possible to drink coffee while reading the news on your iPad.

The declining relevance of print is top of mind this morning as The New York Times failed to get the White House Correspondents Dinner shooting into its dead-tree edition. Lest you think this is a Boston delivery problem, it’s also not in the replica edition. Needless to say, it’s all over the Times homepage, and it probably found its way into the late city editions as well.

The (deservedly) much-maligned Washington Post managed to go big with the shooting in its print edition. You might say that’s a function of being the hometown paper, but it’s really not. It’s a function of press times.

The Boston Globe leads its print edition with the shooting, alongside the firing of Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

No excuses for the Los Angeles Times, which is three hours behind the East Coast, meaning that the incident took place around 5 p.m. Pacific time.

Of course, even those papers whose editors managed to yell “Stop the presses!” and get the story into print have much more up-to-date news about the shooting in their digital editions today.

We get the print edition of the Sunday Times because, whenever we try to cancel in order to save money, we’re offered a special deal. Digital advertising isn’t worth much, but print ads are still fairly lucrative, especially in the Times and especially on Sunday. But when there’s a big, late-breaking story, digital is the place to be.

Gov. Healey wants to remove public access to vital records. So we’re giving her a Muzzle Award — her third.

*Gov. Maura Healey, left, with Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll. 2023 photo in the public domain.*

Six years ago, then-Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a moderate Republican, earned a New England Muzzle Award — then hosted by GBH News — for proposing a change in the public-records laws so that access to birth, death and marriage records would not be available to the public for many decades. The delay would have amounted to 90 years in the case of birth and marriage records and 50 years after a person’s death.

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Fortunately, the bill didn’t pass. But now Baker’s successor, Gov. Maura Healey, a liberal Democrat, is back with a similar bill. As The Boston Globe put it in an editorial (sub. req.) on Thursday:

In a state that already has a dreadful reputation for its lack of transparency and will probably face a ballot question over the exemptions from the state’s public records law accorded the governor’s office and the Legislature, this is simply the wrong law at the wrong time.

The Globe observes that Healey, in her announcement touting the legislation, emphasizes one of its few positive aspects — the end of references to “out of wedlock” on birth and marriage certificates. The rest of it, though, would deprive researchers of information they need to do their work in areas such as public health and genealogy. And she has stacked the deck in favor of passage by making it part of a budget bill that must be approved and for which debate is limited.

As I wrote in 2020, these records have been freely available to anyone who asks for them since the early Puritan era. Investigative reporter Jenifer McKim of GBH News said on Twitter at the time: “As MA governor [Baker] works to make birth, death records secret, thinking of the stories I’ve written and produced with the help of these key, currently public, documents, including suicides at colleges and universities.”

And in a 2020 interview with the Chelsea Record, Ryan Woods, executive vice president of the New England and Genealogical Society, said, “Unequivocally it was a surprise to us. There had not been any public discussion about this until it appeared in the budget.”

This is not Gov. Healey’s first time around with the Muzzle Awards. In 2015, when she was the state attorney general, I singled her out for defending a 1946 state law that criminalized political lies aimed at influencing an election, as if that were even theoretically possible.

In 2018, also a time when she was AG, she won another Muzzle, this one for upholding rulings that public information should, in some cases, remain private. Then-Globe reporter Todd Wallack, now with The Washington Post, documented a number of Healey’s attempts to suppress public records. His most startling finding: Healey’s office had upheld a ruling by the Worcester district attorney that records pertaining to the 1951 murder of a state trooper should not be made public. Healey’s decision reversed a ruling by Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s office and denied a friend of the murder victim the opportunity to follow up some leads on his own. The friend had since died.

Massachusetts has one of the worst reputations in the country with regard to public records. All too often, Maura Healey has been part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Thinking through the legal and ethical issues raised by Kash Patel’s libel case against The Atlantic

*Kash Patel. Photo (cc) 2022 by Gage Skidmore.*

FBI Director Kash Patel’s $250 million libel suit against The Atlantic may prove to be nothing more than bluster. Nevertheless, it’s already raised some interesting issues about ethics and defamation law, and I thought it would be useful to walk through some of them here.

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Patel sued after Sarah Fitzpatrick reported Friday that Patel’s tenure at the FBI has been marred by excessive drinking, lapses in judgment and a shocking lack of discipline. The story, she writes, was based on “more than two dozen people I interviewed about Patel’s conduct, including current and former FBI officials, staff at law-enforcement and intelligence agencies, hospitality-industry workers, members of Congress, political operatives, lobbyists, and former advisers.” There are no named sources who say they’ve had first-hand knowledge of Patel’s alleged misbehavior. Still, that’s a lot of sources.

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The Boston Globe ends its use of the AI tool Nota after Poynter reports that it plagiarizes

Angela Fu of Poynter Online published a story on Thursday that’s been rocketing around media circles. Her lead: “Artificial intelligence company Nota — whose clients include organizations like The Boston Globe and the Institute for Nonprofit News — is scrapping its network of local news sites after learning that they contained dozens of instances of plagiarism.”

You should read Fu’s story in full. The gist of it is that the AI tool was supposed to scrape press releases and official information but has been grabbing news content in addition to that. “Poynter found more than 70 stories dating back to October that included reporting, writing and photography from local journalists without attribution,” she writes. “Some of the copied material came from outlets owned by Nota’s own clients.”

Earlier today, several trusted sources sent along a memo sent to the Globe’s newsroom assuring the staff that the paper was not part of the specific experiment at issue and that everyone should stop using Nota.

Here is text of the email, which is from editor Brian McGrory; Shira Center, vice president for innovation and strategic initiatives; Cynthia Needham, deputy managing editor for innovation and strategy; Matt Karolian, vice president of platforms and AI; and Heather Ciras, deputy managing editor for audience.

Poynter published a report yesterday about Nota, an AI tool used by the Globe and many other newsrooms across the country. The story said that a Nota experiment involving AI-driven hyperlocal news resulted in stories that were clearly plagiarized from other local news organizations.

The Globe was not part of this experiment, which was aimed at small counties in other states. We’ve worked with Nota on SEO, headline recommendations, related metadata, and social platform suggestions for Globe stories. The Globe’s contract with Nota prohibits it from using our journalism to train its AI model.

That said, what happened here does not fit with our values, and we are asking everyone to stop using this product while we wait for Nota to turn off the service and end our contract. We have other strong options for this work that we’re exploring.

Sean Murphy retires from the Globe, ending a family connection of more than 60 years

More than 60 years of Boston Globe history is coming to an end. Sean P. Murphy, a reporter at the paper since 1987, is retiring. His father, Jeremiah V. Murphy, was a reporter and columnist at the Globe, and the earliest byline I could find for him dates back to 1961. That’s quite a stretch of time.

Sean Murphy has worked in a variety of reporting and editing jobs at the Globe, serving in recent years as the consumer advocate reporter. His column, “The Fine Print,” is popular and widely read. In a message to the newsroom shared with me by a trusted source, Murphy said in part:

There is no more honorable work than what we do. It is vital to our way of life, our well-being, our democracy, our systems of government and justice and business, our decency. Every morning, I spend a significant amount of time reading all sections of the noble Boston Globe. (At this stage of my life, I begin reading before dawn, sipping my one cup of coffee of the day, classical music in the background.) The Globe informs me, amuses me, fortifies me. For many years, I have been a part-time college instructor in media law. [Murphy earned a law degree from Suffolk University.] I tell my students there is no better investment than the cost of the Boston Globe. “Start a relationship with the Globe,” I say. “Read it every day. It will pay huge dividends.” Hurrah for every one of you, and for those who have gone before us at the Globe.

Business editor Greg Huang and assistant business editor Tim Logan wrote:

Sean was adamant (annoyingly so) that we not sing his praises or go through his lengthy list of achievements here. So we won’t mention that his “Fine Print” column built a large and dedicated readership over the past nine years, winning well over a million dollars back to mistreated consumers from corporations, landlords, and even the state. Or that his wide experience as a courts reporter, investigative reporter, city editor, and other roles at the Globe helped inform how this department, for one, handles its business. Or, more importantly, how his advice, mentorship, and friendship have influenced generations of journalists for the better.

Sean, we will miss you more than we can say. You are irreplaceable, we all know that. We also know you will stay connected. Thanks for all you’ve done. Below are Sean’s parting words to the room.

Our paths did not intersect much over the years, although I do recall that we were on a panel together in Gloucester a few years ago. I can also report that a graduate student in my opinion journalism class, Alexa Gagosz, who took Sean’s media law class at Suffolk University when she was an undergraduate, used to rave about his consumer column as an ideal blend of reporting and opinion. (Sean earned a law degree at Suffolk.) Alexa is now a star reporter for the Globe’s Rhode Island edition.

Congratulations to Sean, and best wishes for a long and satisfying retirement.

The Boston Globe’s print edition gets snowed out, invoking memories of the Blizzard of ’78

The Boston Globe calls its decision not to print a paper today “unprecedented.” But as Aidan Ryan reports (sub. req.), it depends on your definition of unprecedented: “Even during the historic Blizzard of ’78, the Globe printed a few thousand copies of the Feb. 7, 1978, edition, though its delivery trucks couldn’t get through the piles of snow around its old offices on Morrissey Boulevard.”

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Moreover, Ryan notes that today’s edition will be printed and delivered with Wednesday’s paper. It strikes me as an odd move given that the Globe’s website is up and running, including the daily e-paper. But maybe there are a few print customers who really don’t want to read the paper online and who will appreciate having today’s paper — perhaps to commemorate the Blizzard of ’26.

Continue reading “The Boston Globe’s print edition gets snowed out, invoking memories of the Blizzard of ’78”

The Boston Globe adds an option that puts it one step closer (maybe) to sharing on social media

This past November I wrote about how a Boston Globe subscriber could share a gift link with a non-subscriber via email. It was strictly a one-to-one feature — there was no authorized way of sending a gift link to a social-media platform. (There are unauthorized ways, which I’ll let you figure out.)

Within the past day or so, though, a new item suddenly popped up on the Globe’s sharing options called “Gift an Article.” My hope was that the Globe had joined multiple other papers and was now offering a few free gift shares a month that would work anywhere, not just through email.

With great anticipation, I clicked. And I was greeted with a text-entry box that said “Gift This Article Through Email.” The rest of the sharing features — Facebook, Bluesky, etc. — give you a link that lead to a paywall when a non-subscriber clicks on them.

Oh, well. I’ll be optimistic and hope that this is the first step toward a real sharing feature.

Politico’s Mass. Playbook is ending, and Kelly Garrity is taking her talents to The Boston Globe

*The Massachusetts Statehouse. Photo (cc) 2024 by Dan Kennedy.*

Politico’s Massachusetts Playbook, a morning email newsletter about state politics, is coming to an end. Kelly Garrity made the announcement earlier today and said she’ll be writing a political newsletter for The Boston Globe that will debut later this year. She writes:

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who ever read, emailed, sent a tip, answered a late-night call/email/text or submitted a birthday. This newsletter is what first put POLITICO on my radar and I feel so lucky to have had the chance to be a part of making something I was a fan of for so long.

The Playbook was launched in September 2015 with Lauren Dezenski at the helm. Dezenski, a Dorchester Reporter alum, is now at Bloomberg. The Playbook has served as an important stepping stone for a number of journalists who have held that position, but now it’s coming to an end.

Although Boston has a number of morning newsletters, I think it’s fair to say that Politico’s only direct competitor in terms of tracking the Massachusetts political scene was MASSter List, from State House News Service, produced by veteran journalist Gintautas Dumcius. Also deserving mention is CommonWealth Beacon, a nonprofit that covers politics and public policy, which has a mid-morning newsletter that’s a little bit different — less insidery and more focused on pulling readers onto its website. (Note: I’m on CommonWealth’s editorial advisory board.)

The move is part of broader cutbacks at Politico as a whole. Corbin Bolies recently reported for The Wrap that Politico was eliminating 3% of its staff. Meanwhile, Axios, founded by two of Politico’s three co-founders, is expanding its local news coverage — although, unfortunately, AI is playing a significant role. (Boston is among the cities with a morning Axios newsletter, but it’s not strictly about politics.)

This also strikes me as a smart move by the Globe, since it’s a way to bring in a reporter who’s already respected by folks who follow state politics closely.

A new partnership expands free digital access to The Boston Globe at more than 40 libraries

*The Cambridge Public Library is part of the Minuteman Library Network, which is now offering digital access to The Boston Globe. Public domain photo circa 1889 via Wikimedia Commons.*

Probably the single most frequent complaint I hear about The Boston Globe is that it’s too expensive. A non-discounted digital-only subscription costs $36 a month, and the paper doesn’t make any gift links available for sharing on social media.

Perhaps that’s changing. Last fall, the Globe unveiled a flexible paywall for its Boston.com satellite site. Subscribers can give away some free shares every month. Boston.com had previously been entirely free, but it does give the tech folks a chance to experiment before deciding whether to introduce the same feature at the Globe itself.

And now the Globe is adding free digital access to anyone with a library card in the Minuteman Library Network, which comprises more than 40 libraries in the Boston area. It already has a similar arrangement with the Boston Public Library. Five hundred users will be allowed to log in simultaneously for a maximum of 72 hours. Is that enough? I don’t know, but it’s a step in the right direction. I’d also like to see some provision for out-of-state readers who might need to access a few Globe stories each year.

Here’s the full press release, which I grabbed from the trade website Editor & Publisher:

The Boston Globe and Minuteman Library Network recently announced a partnership providing their cardholders with access to Boston Globe digital content. This new collaboration continues The Boston Globe’s work with library systems across Massachusetts, bolstering its mission to provide access to award-winning local journalism and high-quality news and information.

Through this partnership, Minuteman cardholders can sign up for a 72-hour digital pass to Globe.com, accessing Boston Globe journalism, puzzles and games, podcasts, videos, Globe Magazine and more. A maximum of 500 passes are available on a first come first serve basis, allowing cardholders from across more than 40 member libraries to access Boston Globe content and the Globe E-Paper, as well as an archive of articles extending back through The Boston Globe’s 153-year history.

Just last year, The Boston Globe announced an expanded partnership with Boston Public Library. With the Globe’s collaboration with Minuteman, Metrowest communities outside Boston, including Westwood, Natick, Cambridge and Newton, will be able to offer free access to The Boston Globe to library members.

“At Boston Globe Media, we are always exploring new ways to deepen our connection with the communities we serve in Massachusetts,” said Michelle Micone, chief marketing and strategic initiatives officer, Boston Globe Media. “Partnering with invaluable institutions like the Minuteman Library Network allows us to expand access to our trusted journalism and ensure more people can engage with the news and information that matter most.”

“The libraries of the Minuteman Library Network are eager to secure access for their cardholders to the Boston Globe’s in-depth reporting in an online platform that renders the full reading experience of the print editions,” said Phil McNulty, executive director, Minuteman Library Network.

Clarification: I’ve updated this item to note that though the Globe doesn’t make gift links available on social media, it does allow subscribers to send a full copy of an article to a non-subscriber via email — which I wrote about a few months ago.

As Jeff Bezos dismantles The Washington Post, five regional papers chart a course for survival

Portrait of Jeff Bezos (cc) 2017 by thierry ehrmann.

If The Washington Post’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, ever decides he wants to take journalism seriously again, then he might take a look at a handful of large regional papers that have charted a route to sustainability against the strong headwinds that continue to buffet the news business.

Perhaps the most important difference between these papers and the Post — and the hundreds of other shrinking media outlets owned by corporate chains and hedge funds — is that they are rooted in the communities they cover. Whether owned by wealthy people or run by nonprofits, they place service to their city and region above extracting the last smidgen of revenue they can squeeze out.

Although I could add a few to this list, I am mentioning five large regional newspapers as examples of how it’s possible to succeed despite the long-term decline in the economics of journalism.

Read the rest at The Conversation.