Dan Kennedy tells PR Week he gets up so early to read The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and The New York Times, plus Romenesko, Slate, Salon, Instapundit, Kausfiles, Drudge and other bloggers on the Web. But, he confesses, "I do not watch as much television as I should." The blog is an ill-defined part of his job done primarily for self-entertainment, he says in a Q&A interview.
There's no need to wait until Thursday to get an alternative view of the Democratic National Convention. The Boston Phoenix is providing daily updates and a listing of convention events on its Web site. It also has a city guide for protesters, delegates and anyone else who's in Boston for the convention this week. Media columnist Dan Kennedy is writing a media log, which today includes coverage of a tribute to the late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone.
The unidentified author of "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror" is Michael Scheuer, a CIA analyst based in Langley, Va., according to Jason Vest. The freelance writer reports in the Phoenix that Scheuer doesn't want to be anonymous at all but is compelled to keep his identity secret because of arcane classified regulations. Vest earlier wrote an article about a secret memo on Iraq that appeared in dozens of AAN papers.
The alt-weekly has been advertising a text-messaging application known as txt2flirt, which is intended to appeal especially to young adults, Jennifer Saba reports in Editor & Publisher. Those who register can ask to be matched with someone else nearby and then tap out messages to communicate with a prospective friend or date. Each message costs 50 cents to send, and a share of the resulting income goes to the paper. The company that develops and handles the technology, g8wave, is a division of Tele-Publishing International, which is a division of Phoenix Media/Communications Group. The group owns The Boston Phoenix.
In a cover story for The Boston Phoenix, contributors Harvey A. Silvergate and Carl Takei examine the history of the Bush administration's efforts to classify a wider range of government documents. According to the authors, even before the introduction of the Patriot Act, the administration was working to reduce public access permitted by the Freedom of Information Act while, at the same time, declassifying selected documents from the Clinton administration in an effort to embarrass the former president. Now, they claim, under the umbrella of national security, the rise of governmental secrecy is adversely affecting not only the 4th Estate, but basic First Amendment rights and Civil Liberties.
The new issue of the Dig looks a lot like The Boston Phoenix, with bylines that are plays on the names of Phoenix staff writers. The Boston Globe Names columnists Carol Beggy and Mark Shanahan report that the parody is the latest episode in a dispute over advertising tactics (third item). Dig publisher Jeff Lawrence has challenged Phoenix publisher Stephen Mindich to a one-mile footrace on April 19, with the loser required to make a donation to charity. Mindich hasn't responded.
The media has already discussed the ways in which Nader's decision to run as an independent candidate for U.S. president could hurt presumed Democratic Party candidate John Kerry. Now Adam Reilly of The Boston Phoenix looks at how Nader could damage the Green Party he put on the political map when he ran in 2000. That year he gave the Greens ballot status for the first time in seven states and boosted the third party's registration nationwide. If the Greens choose to run their own candidate this year, they'll be drawing on the same pool of progressive voters as Nader and could end up losing ballot status in some states, Reilly writes. He quotes Green-Rainbow co-chair Grace Ross, who says, "Divisiveness for a young party is not helpful."
Depending on your religious beliefs, the Massachusetts high court's ruling opening the door for gays and lesbians to marry can be seen as "an attack against civilization" or a welcome step forward in the civil rights struggle. Boston Phoenix writer Dan Kennedy listens to Catholics and Unitarians outside the Massachusetts State House while, inside, legislators debate whether the state constitution should be amended to ban such matrimony. "As the great political philosopher Jon Stewart has observed, making gay marriage legal doesn't make it mandatory," Kennedy writes.
Since suffering two life-threatening illnesses four years ago, the state's Senate president, Robert Travaglini, has adopted a conciliatory approach toward his colleagues. Next week the 51-year-old—who is pro-civil-union but draws the line at matrimony—will preside over a debate about amending the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. Boston Phoenix writer Adam Reilly profiles the man who will lead legislators' response to Wednesday's Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that the state must allow gay marriage. "What, exactly, " Reilly asks, "are the long-term ramifications of a governing style based on sharing power and making people feel good?"
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