BY DAN
KENNEDY
Serving the reality-based community since 2002.
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Tuesday, November 30, 2004
DEAN OF RADIO. I would
describe Dean Johnson's radio column in the Boston Herald
every Friday as indispensable, but I guess that would be technically
inaccurate. Because Media Log has learned that the Herald's
editors have decided it's very much dispensable. Johnson, a longtime
Herald staffer who also covers comedy and other
entertainment-related stories, will continue to write for the arts
pages. But his radio column is no more.
Johnson declined to comment, but
he's got plenty of readers. Radio is a specialty beat - the
Globe's radio column is written by a freelancer, Clea Simon -
and I suppose you could make the case that it's less interesting now
that every station in the country is owned by two giant media
conglomerates. (I exaggerate only slightly.) Still, Johnson's take
was authoritative, and it was certainly one I always looked forward
to.
"Personally, I think this is
outrageous - his radio column was one of the best; he also wrote
about pop culture and reviewed various shows for the Herald,
always objective and always fair. If something was happening in media
in Boston, Dean was on top of it. For him to be treated this way
after 20 years is blatantly unfair," e-mails a radio junkie and Media
Log reader.
Herald managing editor Kevin
Convey is playing this as a better-for-everyone proposition,
e-mailing, "Very, simply, we're interested in covering radio on a
breaking basis rather than on a once-weekly basis. We want Dean, with
his long history and wealth of contacts in the business, to translate
the effort he put into the column into daily coverage. Hence, the
column goes. But our hope is that Dean will be in the paper with news
of the industry on a much more regular basis now."
That sounds like
more-Dean-on-radio, but will it shake out that way? Yes, there's
breaking news when there's turmoil, such as Jane Christo's recent
resignation as general manager of WBUR (90.9 FM), or scandal, such as
the mind-boggling story of Brad
Bleidt and WBIX (AM 1060).
Other than that, though, is there really much breaking news in radio?
I want Johnson's perspective even when there isn't news
breaking.
FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS. The
US Court of Appeals struck
a blow for free speech
yesterday by prohibiting the Pentagon from enforcing the Solomon
Amendment, which requires law schools to allow military recruiters on
campus as a condition of receiving federal funds.
Last Fourth of July the
Phoenix bestowed one of its annual Muzzle Awards on Secretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for his vigorous enforcement of the
Solomon Amendment. (Click here,
scroll to the bottom, and click on "page 6.")
The issue is pretty basic. The
military discriminates against lesbians and gay men through its
"don't ask, don't tell" policy. Other employers that discriminate are
not allowed on campus.
Although I wish the military would
stop discriminating, I also wish colleges and universities would
voluntarily allow recruiters from any organization to exercise their free-speech rights on
campus. But the Solomon Amendment was coercion, and we should all be
glad that the court recognized it as such.
posted at 11:25 AM |
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1 Comments:
Eh, on the Dean situation, dare I say it ... "Ditto Dan Ditto!"
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Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
