The big winner in last night's "big boy" (top ten Republicans in polls, all male) debate was Fox News itself. While the network isn't my default choice, the moderators, stalwart defenders of Republican orthodoxy, and the format wrung the most out of the sometimes unruly lot and provided some illuminating moments. Megyn Kelly, flanked by Chris Wallace …
Category: Media
Globe struggles to balance Olympics coverage
Yesterday the Boston Business Journal revealed some of Boston 2024's duplicity in misrepresenting to the public what it had included in its bid for bringing the Olympics to the Hub. Information the BBJ obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request indicates the bid outlined the need for public funding (and a public authority) for land acquisition …
Continue reading Globe struggles to balance Olympics coverage
George Stephanopoulos should know better
Many bemoan the revolving door in government/media circles. For a while you're a politician; then you get a job as a lobbyist, retaining your politicians' access; then you're a candidate again. One day you're a journalist; the next you're a communications director for a candidate or elected official; the next you're a TV or radio analyst. …
Civic leadership through robust public dialogue and love of language
At the risk of sounding immodest, I want to share with readers how deeply moved I am to be receiving an honorary doctor of letters from Regis College, a dynamic and growing university in Weston, MA. Last night I was privileged to deliver an address to the hundreds of students receiving master's and doctoral degrees. …
Continue reading Civic leadership through robust public dialogue and love of language
Bob Simon – the very best
Bob Simon was the kind of journalist whom Brian Williams could only dream of being. There was no finer writer or story teller, no more courageous correspondent, no better example of the highest achievements of reporting, than Simon, described by so many in the last few days as a giant of broadcast journalism. In today's world of …
Brian Williams and narcissistic journalism
That shame came to NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams only recently is probably the most surprising news of all. He is the ultimate expression of the celebrity newsperson, overpaid, overdressed, overexposed, over-inclined to be an entertainer all the while asserting a claim to be a top notch reporter. As the NY Times' Maureen Dowd wrote, "THIS was a bomb that had …
Deflate-gate calls for willing suspension of disbelief
To enjoy the performance at the movies and in theater, audience members often have to suspend their connection with reality. So, too, with another form of entertainment, professional football. Is it really possible that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, legendary masters of detail and planned execution, knew absolutely nothing about the under-inflation of footballs? Remember Captain …
Continue reading Deflate-gate calls for willing suspension of disbelief
Walsh bows to Boston workers gag order
If you're one of Boston's 18,000 municipal employees, you just lost some important First Amendment rights. If your paycheck says your employer is the City of Boston, your boss, Mayor Marty Walsh, has contractually barred you from saying anything negative about the prospect of hosting the Olympics in 2024. Section 2.05 of the Joinder …
Rise up, ye garden party skunks
Driving down the Mass Pike the day after Boston was tapped for the 2024 U.S. summer Olympics bid, there on the WGBH electronic billboard, the five Olympic rings logo against our beautiful skyline. A frisson of excitement. Wow; it's coming here! Congratulations to the bidding group. And in a split second, I wondered what (and who) …
Mourning Paris journalists and attack on press freedom
If I were technologically proficient, I'd edge this blog in black. How profoundly sad is the grievous slaughter of 12 yesterday in Paris, journalists and their police protectors at the satire magazine Charlie Hebdo. What an unspeakable attack on press freedom and the underpinnings of democracy. What a barbaric assault on humanity! Say what you want …
Continue reading Mourning Paris journalists and attack on press freedom
Marjorie Arons-Barron 