John Daley caught Mike "The Old Plagiarizer" Barnicle and Dan "CHB" Shaughnessy on the radio yesterday:
... Barnicle brought up "the blogging thing," and as they chuckled and guffawed away, Dan Shaughnessy chimed in that "all bloggers" are losers and frustrated journalists. And apparently, we're destroying the political system.
To borrow from their friend Imus, Can these guys be more over?
Michael Gee doesn't buy all this talk about how the Globe has to reinvent itself as a local paper. Gee says that strategy did nothing for the Herald and he sees the news that the Globe is closing its last foreign bureaus as proof the paper's out-of-town corporate overlords only want to serve us the thinnest of journalistic gruel:
I quickly ignore John Daley's attempt to get local bloggers not to use rhyme to discuss city councilor John Tobin's proposal to appoint a city poet laureate.
Besides, we don't even need to conduct a search. We got yer Boston poet laureate right here.
Samuel J. Scott discusses the paper's decision to close its last foreign bureaus:
The Boston Globe has started the long, painful process of becoming a local newspaper again after a distinguished career as a national, then regional, publication. ...
Carr thinks it's too bad the alleged killer will only serve 11 years in jail unless somebody kills him first.
Cranky wants them to stop talking politics:
... If I want a dose of right wing politics, I'll tune in Jay Severin. I certainly don't need to hear it from the sports bozos.
Just when you think the only time Brian McGrory picks up the telephone is to call in another column, he surprises you with something like today's column on the poor kid who got his back broken by a drunken oaf at a Pats game (and yes, while I'd earlier, and often, criticized Our Boy Brian for dabbling in sports cover
Get on the radio as part of this Sunday's audience participation event for "Radio With A View" at Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway Theater in Davis Square, Somerville. The event begins at 4:00 pm.
At 8:13 this morning, WBZ's Ed Walsh said something like:
And now your Subaru Dealers of New England All-Wheel Traffic Report - brought to you by Toyota.
At the bottom of Mac Daniel's latest paean to the CharlieCard (but just before he acknowledges there might be one tiny small problem with them), he writes:
We also checked out reports that folks were throwing away CharlieTickets that still had value on them. We're not saying it's not true, but after donning latex-free rubber gloves, we rummaged in the trash and found 20 CharlieTickets. After running each one through the machine and checking their values, not one cent was found.
Messenger reports that laid-off Channel 56 weather guy Mike Wankum is back doing the weather - weekend mornings on Channel 5.
Jesse Noyes at the Herald has the scoop (and the internal memos): 125 jobs to be eliminated at the Globe and Worcester Telegram & Gazette, including 19 newsroom staffers (17 in news and 2 in op-ed). Buyouts will be offered; boston.com staffers, however, cannot take them. Also coming: Less space for news in the Globe and outsourcing in the finance and "advertising operational" areas (so, hmm, when you call to place an ad, you'll get somebody in Bangalore?).
See the WBZ-AM Dumb guy in action in these four spots. See the dumbest guy in Boston struggle to understand the news!
On Squaring the Boston Globe, Harry says farewell to the original Ritz Carlton, which tomorrow re-opens as some new hotel:
The Ritz Carlton Boston is your grandmother incarnated as a hotel. It is from a different era. It insists on slightly higher standards of decorum. It takes very good care of you. And it is where you go for something very special.
The Herald's Messenger reports Weekly Dig editor Joe Keohane is leaving next month.
With today's front page, the Herald launches a jihad against the Mass. Cultural Council.
I spotted a fly this morning. It was a sickly fly, wandering around down there on the floor of the men's room - when I moved my foot right next to it, all it did was try to crawl away, not fly away. But, of course, it got me to thinking. First - we never see flies in the winter. Second, how long before somebody in the local media puts 2 and 2 together and gets DEATH FROM ABOVE, i.e., a story about how our current un-winter means we're all going to die this summer from West Nile Virus/Eastern Equine Encephalitis/Lyme Disease/salmonella/something?
So ...
Let's have a pool: Reply to this post (or send me e-mail) with the date on which you think we'll see the first story in the local media linking the present weather to some horrible disease we all have to worry about this summer. For extra fun, note which media outlet you think will "break" the story.
Whoever guesses the right date will get a plush e. coli bacterium, from the batch I just ordered (click on the little guy to the right for more info). Guess the right date and the right media outlet and you'll get two.
All entries must be posted by 11:59 p.m., EDT, Jan. 15. All decisions of the judges are final. Results will be available for inspection on this site. Media outlets must not use this post as an inspiration for this story until at least Jan. 16 - otherwise, what am I going to do with three plush e. coli bacteria that my wife will think I'm insane for buying?
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