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The two-newspaper town: I-93 shutdown edition

Covers of the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe on Feb. 25

The way Boston's two major dailies covered yesterday's I-93 showdown between stunters and staties could not have been more different.

The Herald made the incident its entire front page (aided by a dramatic photo) - with not even a mention of the Winchester library murder- while the Globe made it a brief on page 2 of the Metro section. The Globe devoted most of its front page to a well sourced, well written scoop on turmoil at the Boston Athenaeum, but, well, raise your hand if you've ever been inside the Athenaeum.

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Comments

*raises hand*

Now, let me go for UR BOSTON LIBRARY DORK :
I have HAD TEA at the Boston Atheneum.

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That is some next-level library dorkdom.
I stand in awe.

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After I got laid off from my last full-time job and started doing UHub full time instead, a kind soul gave me a year's membership to the Athenaeum, where I'd go after City Hall hearings and bliss out as I typed up the latest licensing misdeeds or whatever. It was most cool, and exactly what you'd expect an old library to be like (imagine if the main reading room at the Copley Square BPL were cut up and stacked on several floors - and had a book bound in human skin). But I'm still guessing more people are familiar with the Expressway than the Athenaeum.

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but it is the complete opposite experience from the Expressway.

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(That's an awfully nice gift to get btw)

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AND I've made my own tea there. I was a member for a little while.

AND I have fallen asleep on a sofa.

AND I can spell ATHENAEUM correctly.

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.

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Mine dœs.

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I'm a member. So is MY WIFE. Wonderful place.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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Should the 'MY WIFE" in all caps be read in a Borat voice?

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No, just with the normal amount of awe you have reserved for a superb woman.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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I've visited for public art exhibits, and once attended what I think is an annual Open House event that included a discounted membership offer. There was a special guided tour of the stacks and conservation areas. Love the alcove overlooking the Granary Burying Ground and the desk spaces on the second floor.

The Globe article does not say much about how regular visiting members might be affected by the staff turmoil.

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Meet the new papers same as the old papers.

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  1. Someone was shot in the event, and they're making light of the event.
  2. It's playing to racism, and they know it.
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Those arrested looked pretty white to me.

Alas, there were two reasons why the Herald played this up. The first is that this is a quality of life issue in parts on Boston, but I won't bore you on the demographics of those areas. The second, and objectively the more important one, is that they were able to get a photographer out to the scene and get some good shots. Going back to the days of the Evening Record and Daily Advertiser at the end, photography has driven this newspaper. Just look at the winners of the Pulitzer for news photography.

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Globe story is excellent journalism that interests only octagenarians who live in Louisburg Square or Lincoln; Herald's story is disjointed but essential to the 1000s of people who've been disrupted by the dumbwheelers.

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I like two newspaper towns.

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Wrong. I first went to the Athenaeum in my early 20's while I was living in NH. Some of us just really love old architecture, amazing libraries, researching and reading things other than best sellers. Take a seat.

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And I'd much rather read about my favorite place in the city than why today's traffic jam is different from all other traffic jams.

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So no doubt subject to many sweeping generalizations, if someone wishes to make some, but also a member of the Athenaeum. I'd still rather read about sanity taking hold for a change.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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My favorite part of Pesach.

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I also love having many news outlets. Something for everyone:

- Herald readers = uneducated people
- Boston Globe readers = mildly educated people (too much sportsball coverage to make it to the next level)
- UHUB readers = highly educated people

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One can enjoy spectator sport while also being well informed about civic affairs and issues in the news. Your snobbery is unproductive.

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what's your excuse?

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Go on...

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Dr. Barker's background is exclusively in art galleries and art museums. Even though the Atheneum holds some fantastic works of art, it is a library, first and foremost.

I have never worked for Dr. Barker myself and so I'm not weighing in on her particular service at the Atheneum, but hiring a director with no library experience at all was a strange choice for the directors to make.

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Sort of makes you think how the system works.
Dems

Reps.

Herald

Globe.

"You say 'potato' I say po tatta to!

Let's call the whole thing off!"

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Scrolled past a friend (mid-20s white male) who shared the Herald's online story on Facebook. The meta title read, "State police: 1 shot during bike melee on 93." Thought, "Shouldn't that read 'State police shoot one during bike melee on 93'"? Didn't click through to see what the title on the page read.

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eDorable!

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Not a member, but I frequent the Athenaeum several times a year to see their excellent exhibits which are open to the public for only $5. It's a beautiful building and their collection is extraordinary.

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It's articles like the one about the Athenaeum that would make me consider subscribing to The Globe. The Herald has always been more of a tabloid newapaper, which is fine as long as we're a two-paper town.

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.... burial ground out the back windows of the Atheneum on an autumn afternoon is worth a visit alone.

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They have occasional public programs that don't require either an admission fee or a membership. Even though I've been there only a handful of times, it's more relevant to my life than the Southeast Expressway is.

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I think they're both significant stories.

Those kids on the dirt bikes and quad ATVs are potentially dangerous and for folks in the city's neighborhoods its a true nuisance. The cops haven't really had much success with them other than the odd confiscation raid. I'm not sure it was a complete success but I suspect the cops' willingness to try new tactics is a welcomed.

The Athenaeum story was really well done and about an institution that has deep Boston history. Its not just the Athenaeum that faces challenges to its historical mission. I've seen changes like it happening at other Boston institutions like it trying to remain relevant. Its painful and sometimes just stupid the way the "old guard" gets treated. I'm glad it's getting called out. Change is inevitable but sometimes respecting the past is the best way to the future.

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Surely there's some (un)happy medium that neither paper achieved here?

The "brief" in the printed Sunday paper is a single paragraph, considerably shorter and less detailed than what you linked to on their website. The headline is State trooper shoots suspect on I-93 which provides no context for the shooting. The story deserved more coverage than that.

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Could it have to do with when the Globe and Herald were put to bed?

The Winchester murder was much earlier in the day.

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It saddens me that there are people out there who have no idea what the front page of a newspaper is and the editorial significance of what is on it.

As for the story, I typically pass on the Sunday Herald, but thankfully I have other sources (I’m abstaining from the internet on the Christian Sabbath for Lent, so you weren’t my source) to find out about the events on the expressway.

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how did you post this comment?

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In Catholicism, even during lent. A lot of people interpret that as dispensation to resume whatever was given up for the day. The official line on the matter is basically "don't actively seek it out, but don't actively avoid it either".

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I go sundown Saturday to sundown Sunday, or how the Sabbath is typically viewed (for Christians.)

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Seems more serious than a trip to the circus!

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Thanks for having the clowns back :)

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en Ingles?

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Do I hear sirens wailing over that exquisite Schubert quartet?

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This is the problem.

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Dogtown Herald: OMFG SQUIRREL! SQUIRREL! SQUIRREL!

Dogtown Globe: In depth story on bones and rawhide treats
This Morning's SQUIRREL!
Story about Good Boys and Good Girls in a sad place.

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I'm betting that some people confuse the Athenaeum with the Arboretum and think it's down in that "icky" part of Boston when it's near the State House.

At least today's Herald back page is appropriate.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sites/default/files/styles/photos_featured_b...

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