Veteran Boston Globe staff member David Arnold has been suspended for two weeks, according to sources at the paper. In an August 7 story on the sinking of the fishing trawler Starbound, Arnold described a resident named Jim Aikens as heading for the Gloucester Fishermen’s Memorial Wall of Remembrance " because he finds a morsel of comfort in the company of names that are now timeless. " But as the Globe revealed in a correction published on August 14, " In fact, Aikens went to the memorial at the request of the Globe, which wanted to photograph him there. "

Sources say the photographer, staffer Dominic Chavez, was not punished because such set-ups are common, if not exactly cutting-edge photojournalistic practice. By contrast, Arnold’s description of Aikens amounted to a deliberate, if small, misrepresentation.

Neither Globe editor Marty Baron nor Arnold’s supervisor, deputy managing editor Peter Canellos, would comment. Nor could we learn whether Arnold’s suspension would be paid or unpaid.

Arnold himself could not be reached. He left a voice-mail message on his Globe phone saying he would be back after Labor Day. When the Phoenix attempted to reach him at home, a man identifying himself as Arnold’s father said, " He’s out sailing on the high seas, " adding that he would not return until Sunday or Monday.

The Boston Globe Employees Association has reportedly filed a grievance on Arnold’s behalf, although union president Robert Jordan would not discuss the matter.

The Arnold situation appears pretty cut-and-dried, so it would probably be a mistake to read too much into what the suspension says about new editor Baron’s ethical priorities. But at a paper that has had more than its share of highly publicized misadventures over the past few years, the punishment meted out to Arnold is, if nothing else, a sign that Baron isn’t going to spare the rod.

Issue Date: August 23 - 30, 2001