May 4 - 11, 2000
![[Don't Quote Me]](/standard/image/headers/dont_quote_me_header.gif)
Fleet street
A Herald reporter's suspension illuminates a larger issue: the media's obligation to provide tough, ongoing coverage of a financial behemoth
by Dan Kennedy
In the matter of Robin Washington versus the Boston Herald, the real issue isn't whether the reporter butted heads with his editors over his coverage of FleetBoston and was ultimately ordered to stop covering the bank. That much has already been established, though it's impossible to say for certain whether Washington was -- as he suspects -- a victim of pressure to make nice with a major advertiser.
Updated May 5, 2000 5PM EST Washington to serve two-week suspension, return to Herald
The Robin Washington saga appears to be over. In statements released to the media late Friday afternoon, the Boston Herald, the Newspaper Guild, and Washington himself announced that his indefinite suspension has been reduced to a two-week suspension without pay. When he returns to work, on May 14, he will be restored to his position as the Herald's transportation and consumer columnist, according to the statements.
The Herald: "Robin Washington, who was suspended indefinitely April 30 for what Boston Herald management believes was a violation of the contract, will serve a two-week suspension without pay and return to work on May 14 as consumer and transportation columnist. Herald management considers this an internal disciplinary matter and will not comment further on it."
Washington: "The agreement today between the Newspaper Guild and the Boston Herald represents a spirit of cooperation and communication that is vital to assuring a strong workplace in a free and open press. I look forward to returning to my beat, on which I have been assured I will be able to report without limitation. I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to all who have given me so much of their compassion, dedication, and support during this trying time."
The Guild: "In a meeting today between the Boston Herald and the Newspaper Guild of Greater Boston, Local 31032, the Guild was informed that the indefinite suspension of Guild member and Boston Herald columnist Robin Washington has been converted to two weeks without pay. While the Guild is pleased that Mr. Washington will be restored to his columnist position, the Guild will proceed with litigation of the suspension." The Guild statement was signed by Tom Mashberg, Boston Herald editorial-unit chair; Lesley Phillips, local president; and Thomas Hiltz, local administrative officer.
-- DK
Nor is the issue whether Washington was stripped of his consumer and transportation columns because of his Fleet coverage. Here, at least, the facts seem reasonably clear: he wasn't, at least not directly. Washington was busted down to general assignment shortly after editor Andy Costello and managing editor for news Andrew Gully received calls about Washington from a reporter for the trade magazine Editor & Publisher. Washington admitted to Costello and Gully that he had complained about his treatment to a friend at E&P, though he contends it hadn't occurred to him that his comments would spark a story.
The real issue is whether the media are willing to subject Fleet to the tough, continuing scrutiny that the country's eighth-largest bank (following its $16 billion merger with BankBoston last year) deserves. The Washington affair, unfortunately, is just one of several troubling signs.
Consider that, just several weeks ago, the Boston Globe refused to run an ad from the nonprofit Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America titled "Fleet's Outrageous Fees," thus forgoing $25,000 rather than risk offending Fleet. Globe spokesman Rick Gulla told the Phoenix that Fleet executives were consulted, and they raised concerns that some of the information in the ad was "misleading." Yet Bruce Marks, NACA's chief executive, said he wasn't even given a chance to respond (see "This Just In," News and Features, April 21).
Consider, too, that in April 1997, Fleet pulled out of the remaining five months of a six-month advertising contract with the Bay State Banner after the Banner published an article by managing editor Yawu Miller that was critical of Fleet's lending practices in minority neighborhoods. "They discontinued their advertising, but we can't be certain about what their reasons were," says Miller, who is the nephew of the Banner's editor and publisher, Melvin Miller. (Fleet spokesman Jim Mahoney says the Banner was the victim only of a change in advertising strategy. "There was no advertising decision that was specific to the Bay State Banner at that time," he says. "Any advertising decision that was made applied to a wide range of media entities.")
Washington's career now hangs in the balance. Following a round of media appearances last week in which he denounced Herald management for "censoring" his coverage of Fleet, he was suspended indefinitely without pay. Under orders from his union, Washington has ceased talking to reporters. But in an interview with the Phoenix on Friday, Washington said, "This is my integrity that's at stake here. This is all about the truth."
Truth can be elusive. What's clear is that the intimidating presence of Fleet has suffused this issue. "This is not something that's been new to their corporate culture since the BankBoston merger," says Ada Focer, a former state banking regulator who now writes and comments on banking issues. "This is part of the Fleet culture going back to when they were a teensy little bank in Rhode Island named Industrial-something-or-other. Their style is to be very heavy-handed."
Washington, a four-year Herald staffer who had been covering the consumer and transportation beats since the spring of 1998, says he's butted heads with his editors right from the beginning over advertiser-sensitive issues such as auto dealers and supermarkets. However, his problems escalated considerably two months ago, when his "significant other" tape-recorded a call to Fleet's customer-service office to inquire about fees, which ended with a bank employee calling her a "bitch." The result was a terrific column, but there's no question Washington could have used better judgment: he shouldn't have used someone close to him personally to make the call, and he should have disclosed her identity in print.
Following up on information posted to the Herald's Web site, Washington also visited a bagel shop in Malden that's frequented by Fleet employees in order to listen in on conversations. Washington says he identified himself to employees whom he heard discussing Fleet business, and even gave his business card to one -- conduct that seems aboveboard, not to mention pretty damn enterprising. But Andrew Gully, apparently tipped off by Fleet, according to Washington, gave orders "not to write anything about the bagel shop." Two days later, Washington says, Andy Costello told him to "move on" because the Fleet story had "run its course." Washington pitched several more Fleet stories -- including the Globe's refusal to run Bruce Marks's ad -- but was turned down. And that's where matters stood until the morning of Tuesday, April 25, when Costello and Gully were contacted by E&P and exploded at Washington in what was, sources report, an obscenity-laden tirade.
Mahoney says that he complained twice about Washington's reporting tactics -- not to threaten that Fleet might pull its ads, which he denies "categorically," but to object to the taping, to Washington's failure to disclose that the customer in the "bitch" column was actually his girlfriend, and to the fact that Washington "eavesdropped" at the bagel shop. Washington responds that it's legal to tape a conversation when the other party is already taping, noting that callers to Fleet are informed that they may be recorded. More generally, he says, the use of reporting methods that some might regard as deceptive are absolutely essential for a consumer reporter. "Clearly it would be impossible to report on those issues wearing a sign saying HI, I'M A BOSTON HERALD UNDERCOVER REPORTER," Washington says.
Herald sources confirm, off the record, the basic accuracy of Washington's account. Washington also asserts, and sources confirm, that his immediate supervisor, executive city editor Dan Rosenfeld, often spoke up on Washington's behalf. However, a fuller picture is hard to come by. Rosenfeld's not talking. Costello did not return a call, and Gully responded to an inquiry only to read a statement about Washington's indefinite suspension and to say that neither he nor Costello would comment.
In fairness, the Herald does not have a reputation for kowtowing to advertisers. Yet enough employees are concerned about the paper's Fleet coverage that about 70 of 300 Newspaper Guild members have signed a petition to "protest and condemn the unethical influence of advertisers and business interests." (The petition drive was actually started before Washington's transfer and subsequent suspension.) Publisher Pat Purcell, in a statement, termed that complaint "ridiculous." But sources point out that Purcell has long enjoyed a close relationship with former BankBoston CEO Chad Gifford, now Fleet's second-in-command and heir apparent to Terry Murray, and that Purcell needs to borrow at least $15 million for new color presses later this year. Last year, staffers note, a Beth Healy column that might have offended Gifford was spiked. (See "Don't Quote Me," News, April 9, 1999. Healy, now at the Boston Globe, could not be reached for comment this week.)
But former Herald banking reporter Joe Bartolotta told Editor & Publisher this week that he never felt pressured to go easy on Fleet. And Eric Convey (no relation to the Herald's managing editor for features, Kevin Convey), who wrote a series of tough pieces on Harvard Pilgrim Health Care's financial woes that were publicly criticized by Harvard Pilgrim executives, told the Phoenix, "I led the charge on Harvard Pilgrim, which is a major advertiser, not to mention the provider of our health care, and I never felt any pressure." Convey adds that he signed the Guild petition not out of any specific concerns, but because he thinks "anything that prompts the newspaper to be careful about that sort of thing is good."
The contretemps over Robin Washington couldn't come at a less opportune time for the Herald, which is in the midst of a new advertising campaign in an attempt to reverse its steep circulation losses of the past few years. The paper's coverage of the recent shenanigans at the State House (ANIMAL HOUSE) and over the Big Dig has been sharp and entertaining. Last week, the Herald published an evocative four-part series on the ongoing human-rights disaster in Cambodia -- atypical fare for a paper whose traditional obsessions are breaking news, politics, and sports. But now all anyone in the media world is talking about is how Washington got screwed. Not only has his situation been big news locally, but it's also been covered by the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz and by public radio's Marketplace (which interviewed me on Tuesday).Washington is a good reporter. Ask around the Herald newsroom, and his colleagues -- even those who are less than thrilled that he went public with complaints they believe could have been resolved privately -- say he's accurate, he writes well, and he has a sense of integrity. Now 43, Washington has also had an unusual career path, working as a documentary filmmaker and, before coming to the Herald four years ago, as Yawu Miller's predecessor as managing editor of the Bay State Banner. One of just a handful of black employees, and the Herald's only black news reporter (he's also Jewish), Washington has pushed hard, and publicly, for more diversity at One Herald Square.
Indeed, it may turn out that Washington is better connected than the insular Herald management realizes. The National Association of Black Journalists, of which Washington is the Boston-chapter president, is "deeply concerned about this situation" and is monitoring developments, says the organization's president, Raleigh News & Observer deputy managing editor Will Sutton; the organization staged a demonstration outside the Herald on Tuesday, and later issued a statement "demanding Washington's reinstatement as a columnist." Washington is also being advised by Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, an African-American who describes Washington as "a friend." Ogletree has already talked with Purcell, and predicts "a positive ending." Bruce Marks, the banking activist and NACA chief executive, vows to take action. And Tom Mashberg, head of the Guild's newsroom bargaining unit at the Herald, says the union "disagrees vehemently" with the indefinite suspension meted out to Washington, adding, "We intend to contest it vigorously in the coming days."
One way or another, the matter will be resolved -- amicably or bitterly, with Washington returning to the fold or leaving for good. Which leaves the real issue still to be dealt with.
Ten years ago, four major banks -- Bank of Boston, Bank of New England, Shawmut, and BayBank -- served the region. Today there is one. Fleet is so huge that its $185 billion worth is three times that of the combined worth of its two nearest competitors, Sovereign Bank and Citizens Bank. It is a remarkable concentration of financial power, unthinkable before the era of deregulation. And it is absolutely vital that the media subject Fleet to tough, ongoing coverage.
The early signs are not good. Maybe the Herald's editors believed Jim Mahoney's complaints about Washington were legitimate. Maybe the Globe's business managers were convinced that Bruce Marks's ad was inaccurate. Even so, the bottom line is that, on two recent occasions, the city's dailies erred on the side of keeping Fleet happy. Add to that such developments as the Globe and Fleet's joint sponsorship of a housing initiative by the Archdiocese of Boston -- not to mention Pat Purcell's friendship with Chad Gifford -- and the picture that emerges is one of a cozy partnership between big media and big business.
That's hardly the sort of adversarial relationship on which journalism, and ultimately the public, thrives.
Dan Kennedy's work can be accessed from his Web site: http://www.shore.net/~dkennedy
Dan Kennedy can be reached at dkennedy[a]phx.com
Articles from July 24, 1997 & before can be accessed here
