Cosmo's World
Boston Herald Business Editor Cosmo Macero has taken umbrage at my criticism of yesterday's Herald coverage of the circulation and revenue problems at the Boston Globe. (See "Gloating Over the Numbers") For those who did not read his post on this blog I am reprinting it below:
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To the editor:
Mark Jurkowitz, to my continuing amazement, manages to outdo and exceed his prior expressions of loathing for the Boston Herald with every new batch of keystrokes he devotes to the topic.
His latest blog post regarding the Herald, as it turns out, starts by once again suggesting that our efforts at ``enterprise reporting'' are based only on a ``mantra'' demanding stories that ``the Boston Globe doesn't have.''
That's funny: as if the pursuit of exclusivity is some cheap tabloid parlor trick, as opposed to a daily objective for every newsroom in America.
It also suggests Jurkowitz has been walled up in his elitist Connecticut compound for far too long; he assumes if a story isn't part of the broadsheet/ivory tower/issues-debate circle jerk, any aggressive reporting, creative thought and careful writing that went into it must be meaningless.
And that's just for starters.
Jurkowitz accuses the Herald of ``gloating'' over the Globe's circulation and ad troubles and being ``over the top'' because our Oct. 20 coverage was on page 2, and teased on page 1.
We should take some relief in that Jurkowitz - a media critic - clearly doesn't bother to read the Herald all that often, or at least closely. If he did, he would know that we regularly publish and promote major - and sometimes not so major - business stories on pages 1 thru 5 as a way to give readers a different mix of things to read up front. Today (Oct. 21) is a good example.
Major Boston institutions ranging from Gillete Co., Fidelity Investments, John Hancock Financial Services and others have been reported on in the up-front pages of the Herald.
If Jurkowitz understood business news reporting and judgment a little better, he might also recognize the Globe story as very significant financial news, as opposed to mere grist for his fellow noodlers in the blogosphere.
Respectfully,
Cosmo Macero Jr.
Business editor, Boston Herald
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I'd be the first to point out that Cosmo is entitled to his opinion of my work. I'm glad my blog inspires such passion. In the interests of clarity and accuracy, however, I'd offer two points.
1) For a better perspective on my relentless "loathing for the Boston Herald," he might want to ask his publisher, Pat Purcell (about whom I wrote a lengthy profile while working at the Globe) and his editorial director Ken Chandler whether they think I've been fair and honest in my coverage of the Herald during my 18 years as a media critic in this town. They might be able to enlighten him.
2) The "walled up in his elitist Connecticut compound" line is cute class warfare and I appreciate the rapier-like wit. But it is inaccurate, a perception that was abetted by some confusing reporting in an earlier Herald story about my coming to the Phoenix. Several years ago, my wife and I purchased property in Connecticut. We go there on vacations and sometimes on weekends when we can get away. I live, however, in the Audubon Circle neighborhood of Boston, within easy walking distance from my job at the Phoenix. I am at my desk at the Phoenix -- located on Brookline Ave. in Boston, up the street from Fenway Park -- every workday from about 9 am till about 7 pm. So even if Cosmo disagrees with my assessment of the Herald, he should get it right about my vantage point.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To the editor:
Mark Jurkowitz, to my continuing amazement, manages to outdo and exceed his prior expressions of loathing for the Boston Herald with every new batch of keystrokes he devotes to the topic.
His latest blog post regarding the Herald, as it turns out, starts by once again suggesting that our efforts at ``enterprise reporting'' are based only on a ``mantra'' demanding stories that ``the Boston Globe doesn't have.''
That's funny: as if the pursuit of exclusivity is some cheap tabloid parlor trick, as opposed to a daily objective for every newsroom in America.
It also suggests Jurkowitz has been walled up in his elitist Connecticut compound for far too long; he assumes if a story isn't part of the broadsheet/ivory tower/issues-debate circle jerk, any aggressive reporting, creative thought and careful writing that went into it must be meaningless.
And that's just for starters.
Jurkowitz accuses the Herald of ``gloating'' over the Globe's circulation and ad troubles and being ``over the top'' because our Oct. 20 coverage was on page 2, and teased on page 1.
We should take some relief in that Jurkowitz - a media critic - clearly doesn't bother to read the Herald all that often, or at least closely. If he did, he would know that we regularly publish and promote major - and sometimes not so major - business stories on pages 1 thru 5 as a way to give readers a different mix of things to read up front. Today (Oct. 21) is a good example.
Major Boston institutions ranging from Gillete Co., Fidelity Investments, John Hancock Financial Services and others have been reported on in the up-front pages of the Herald.
If Jurkowitz understood business news reporting and judgment a little better, he might also recognize the Globe story as very significant financial news, as opposed to mere grist for his fellow noodlers in the blogosphere.
Respectfully,
Cosmo Macero Jr.
Business editor, Boston Herald
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd be the first to point out that Cosmo is entitled to his opinion of my work. I'm glad my blog inspires such passion. In the interests of clarity and accuracy, however, I'd offer two points.
1) For a better perspective on my relentless "loathing for the Boston Herald," he might want to ask his publisher, Pat Purcell (about whom I wrote a lengthy profile while working at the Globe) and his editorial director Ken Chandler whether they think I've been fair and honest in my coverage of the Herald during my 18 years as a media critic in this town. They might be able to enlighten him.
2) The "walled up in his elitist Connecticut compound" line is cute class warfare and I appreciate the rapier-like wit. But it is inaccurate, a perception that was abetted by some confusing reporting in an earlier Herald story about my coming to the Phoenix. Several years ago, my wife and I purchased property in Connecticut. We go there on vacations and sometimes on weekends when we can get away. I live, however, in the Audubon Circle neighborhood of Boston, within easy walking distance from my job at the Phoenix. I am at my desk at the Phoenix -- located on Brookline Ave. in Boston, up the street from Fenway Park -- every workday from about 9 am till about 7 pm. So even if Cosmo disagrees with my assessment of the Herald, he should get it right about my vantage point.
14 Comments:
And all those stories about the Metro in the Herald biz section were great journalism too!
Go Mr. Jurkowitz! You are correct!
It is clear that a certain elitism exists at the Globe and is carried over by Jurkowitz to his own sensationalistic tabloid (exhbit A: "You're All Going To Die"). The idea that the Herald is only covering what Globe chooses to ignore - or is simply ignorant to - gives the paper much to work with.
But my real dismay is with comments like Mike B1 in Jurkowitz's "Doing the numbers" blog. I reprint it below:
"With all do respect, Cosmo, no one reads the Herald for the business section. In fact, among the dailies, no one reads much of anything but the Journal and IBD for business stories."
The idea that a member of the local community chooses only to read the Wall Street Journal and IBD is disconcerting and shows that person's contempt for the important events in Boston area businesses. Sounds to me like Jim Kilts' reading habits, that is, concern only for what hostile takeovers are taking place in the world today. Or the Globe's own perspective on local business community, which is "let the AP cover it."
They are thin-skinned. The only troll I've ever had on my blog was a commenter with a fake handle who claimed to be a former Herald staffer (and although using a made-up handle, his IP address traced to a computer at the State House -- not too smart, perhaps, to troll from your desk when you work in government and have fixed IP addresses traceable to individual machines). He was incensed because I made fun of the paper for covering MDC pool closures during the DNC conventions-- if I recall, the Herald even put the pool story on the front page while the city held its first national political convention in a generation. He asserted that the Herald was "the hardest working newsroom you'll find anywhere" and of course asserted that I was a Globe reader (I'm not). Because everybody who criticizes the Herald is of course some kind of college-educated rich person grinding some sort of political ax -- there couldn't possibly be anything wrong, no.
To Cosmo and Lisa,
Cosmo, if you want clues on how to do a business story that does not have an ethical stench about it and that does not attract the heat you don't need right now in your paper that lacks funds and credibility these days, please refer to something like..ummm..the WSJ and pick any story. It is a right-of-center paper you may not be offended in citing if you loathe the Globe and its ilk so much - out of an inferiority complexe.
Someone ethical and only bent on reporting a relevant business story whether about your competitor or not does not splash it the way you did, does not just plaster a main personality's picture right smack in the middle like you are talking about disgraced Enron's Lay or Kozlowski or some notorious outlaw. Furthermore, he or she would not alter the Morrissey logo with falling characters as a sensationalist doom and gloom gimmick.
If I were you, I would think it would be a much bigger scoop for your paper by telling us what are Pat's real intentions with the paper and what is behind all the step dancing he has engaged in lately. THAT is a more significant piece of info about the Boston media scene, since if I were to bet the mortgage on who would exit first the Boston media landscape if push came to shove, bingo...you guessed it...it would be your paper since the Globe, however flawed, is on much better ground locally and nationally.
I believe you are taking this criticism about the piece personally - not that you shouldn't. I think you are doing your best to reposition the business section after your promotion and for the Herald's reporting on this story to be dragged down, it would be a blot on your leadership and you are trying to explain it away.
I am sorry, I have not seen any measurable improvement and no ground breaking yet. Your column before was a lot more refreshing than your efforts now. I think you did better hounding bits of news than managing a sinking ship...or section for now if you will.
And speaking of mansions, how about you tell Pat to sell some of his personal properties to avoid laying off crucial employees and poor souls there. Hey, think about it, he could be the second coming of much more nobler (redundant I know but I like the guy) Feurstein....good for everybody in Herald Sq... How about that???
And just to give you a bit of a push, you can go overnight from a Heraldesque headline like
"Pat on the Mat"
to
"Purcell on the Sell"
How about that?? Came here to argue..you come away with ideas...Good luck now...G'bye...(Give him a big hand fellas)
And to Lisa,
Ok we get it, you are a smart cookie and no one can play one past you. But please if you are promoting your many websites, don't tell us that you snoop on people you disagree with. I dno't care if you are able to see what they had for dinner, I don't want to know about it.
That reeks of being unethical. Keep it for yourself. I just don't see how that could be ethical or useful to your attracting faithful readers and audiences if you are so blaze about outing one of your debaters.
It incenses to no end many of us that someone on the Gov't payroll spends his or her time chatting. But guess what, that is one of the lowest things on the hackerama cr@p that goes on in this pillaged state. I'd start at the top brass first and not worry about something everyone does, more predominantly in the PRIVATE sector. It is so bad and rampant but hard to prevent that companies can't cut them offline either.
Wasn't there a survey lately that said most people shop and chat and browse for hours at work and on average we only put in about 2 hours of productive work everyday??
So please keep it above board. Good luck with your ventures.
I actually think we have a good match here. We have a very nosy and tenacious amateur reporter -don't mean to minimize your work, I just don't know the extent of it. We also have a business editor looking for smart, aware and entreprising investigator. Well, given the lack of smart people in Herald square these days, just an abundance of dumd hyporcitical thugs like HAAAAAAAA-WIE and half of "D&C", I think you would shine over there. They can use you- that's if you can work on the cheap for a bit while they redress the ship. Ok???
How about that fellas...two possible hits in one night....two possible runs in one strike....If the Red Sox had just one of those they could have been playing tomorrow in...oh well we'll leave that one for another -crying- night.
N.
Anon wrote: "The idea that a member of the local community chooses only to read the Wall Street Journal and IBD is disconcerting and shows that person's contempt for the important events in Boston area businesses."
Contempt? Hardly. More like desire for information. The business sections of the Globe and Hrald are, in a word, lousy. (What's worse, this can be extended to the business sections of almost all dailies.) Dailies, the WSJ and IBD notwithstanding (and with whose politics I disagree), to a paper follow the same model: stories on local companies that are collapsing; stories on local companies that have "got religion" and made a comeback; general business news (aka recast p.r.). The prose is often stilted and underwhelming. They rarely, if ever, break stories. And the volume is telling; the two that specialize in business news simply have far more coverage, and I often read revealing stories about "local companies" in those papers -- especially the Journal -- long before I do in the Boston dailies, if they cover them at all.
I don't know what to chalk this is up to -- lack of resources, focus, intellect, perhaps -- but it's not improving.
as opposed to mere grist for his fellow noodlers in the blogosphere.
I take great umbrage over such alimentary slurs, sir. I am quite proud of my pastafarian heritage.
To N:
As an editor, at least Cosmo has learned to be succinct.
Sorry, Mark, but I'm siding with Cosmo here. You sure do seem to favor Globe management on all topics, whether it is Globe v. Herald or Globe management v. Globe worker drones.
What is the point, Cosmo?
In reply to:
"To N:
As an editor, at least Cosmo has learned to be succinct.
3:59 PM "
One thing you obviously have in common with the Herald is that you are too succinct to the point or irrelevance.
Have you read a Herald business story, even the Globe story and how it was written. I lkove it when the rattle off SOME facts, ignore many more and not worry about tying it all with a context and more insight.
My aim is not to be succinct or to please you and to get you to read my post. My objective is to express myself the way I intend to without worrying about a numb-minded ignorant used to only get news from two line snipets.
Bite me, bimbo!
Besides your disregard for succinctness, you also don't care much for spelling, diction or syntax either. I "lkove" it.
Let's examine the Herald coverage of the Metro story a bit here, Cosmo. It reached the point where a link to porn-peddling was a part of it. Now if links to porn peddlers is relevant, why isn't that explored with respect to other, respected companies. If unaffiliated porn-peddling is relevant, why wasn't it seen in reporting of Comcast taking over for Cablevision as Boston's CATV franchisee. Cablevision is, courtesy of its PPV channels, America's largest pornographer. Could it be that the Herald needed to deep-six Metro as a street sales competitor, while Comcast is a rich revenue source? Seems that Cosmo got some beats as a reporter but now that he's become part of the Purcell team, he's buying into the descent into irrelevance that marks The Herald these days.
Oh, and let's not forget what the Fox-Purcell deal was about. It was about mothballing the real estate with a revenue stream until it can be developed. It was a real estate deal and always will be a real estate deal, but Purcell, to his credit, has leveraged The Herald into the CNI papers and the erstwhile Framingham News. That's where his future is. The Herald exudes the stench of the dying and anyone not following the real estate is missing the story. The closing of Filene's Sons Dept. Store and further consolidation in the cell phone industry (which is inevitable) will cost enough full-page lineage to finish the paper off and Purcell will go merrily on his way making a bundle on the suburban shoppers and suburban dailies.
Fortunately, Mark has not chosen to weigh in on newspapers acting as "porn peddlers". Good decision. (The Fenway could not withstand lightning strikes).
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