How NOW, brown cow?
I wanted to grab my inaugural copy of BostonNOW at my commuter-rail stop Tuesday morning, but the drop box was empty. So I figured I’d get one at North Station — but copies of the new free daily were nowhere to be found. Consequently, I didn’t actually see the paper until a co-worker gave me his midmorning. Some observations from NOW’s first day in print:
● The big news of the day — Monday’s massacre at Virginia Tech — was teased atop the front page, but only merited a half-page spread on page nine. Part of me admires NOW’s boldness in doggedly fronting with a local story reported from scratch — i.e., flight delays at Logan Airport due to the weekend storm. But when I picked up various papers today, there was one thing I really wanted to read about, and it wasn’t Logan backlogs. I’m guessing plenty of other prospective readers felt the same way.
● Please, NOW, change your weather-forecast format! Tuesday’s installment looked like an ad for a doctor’s office, and the white-on-yellow text gave me a headache in roughly one second.
● Some big advertisers are already in the fold: Tuesday’s paper featured five full-page spots, including ads for TJ Maxx, Macy’s, and H&M. Clearly, NOW jefe Russel Pergament knows how to sell.
● NOW might carve out a niche as the anti–Tom Menino free daily. Editor-in-chief John Wilpers’s list of the top 10 things he loves about Boston (a regular feature, apparently) included “[e]njoying an off-the-cuff speech by Mumbles Menino.” That’s an interesting contrast to Metro, which gives the mayor a regular column.
● The online editorial-meeting webcast is a work in progress. I thought I’d signed up well in advance, but after leaving my computer for a few minutes, I came back to find I’d been booted from the room. After I got back on, I tried to ask why the Virginia Tech shootings hadn’t been given more prominent play in the paper. The moderator didn’t post my question, and a minute or two later, my video feed died for good. I’m not sure how many people are actually going to want to watch the webcast, but as long as it’s something NOW is touting, it’s worth doing as effectively as possible.
● Based on a subjective, one-issue-only assessment, NOW already has more local content than Metro, but Metro’s easier on the eyes. We’ll see what the rest of the week holds.
Musical chairs
This week’s Pulitzer notwithstanding, the Globe’s local-news operation is, on balance, more important to the paper than ever — which makes current instability in the paper’s City & Region section especially striking. Last week, the Globe announced that Carolyn Ryan, who oversaw the paper’s local coverage as deputy managing editor for local news, will leave to become the Times’ deputy metro editor for government and politics. Meanwhile, no replacement has yet been named for metro columnist and 1997 Pulitzer winner Eileen McNamara, who recently took a buyout and jumped to academia after a dozen years with a B1 byline. Ryan and McNamara had radically different job descriptions, but each had a major effect on how Globe readers got their local news. And so will their replacements, whoever they are.
People inside and outside the Globe have been bandying about possible successors to McNamara ever since her departure was announced, with reporters Joanna Weiss and Yvonne Abraham frequently identified as top candidates. (Reporters Sally Jacobs and Beth Daley have been mentioned as well.) There’s also been speculation among some Globe insiders that Baron might leave McNamara’s slot unfilled; those who entertain this scenario suggest that metro columnists aren’t central to Baron’s vision for the paper.
Baron, however, insists such talk is off base. “It’s a thoroughly inaccurate characterization,” Baron tells the Phoenix. “I consider metro columnists to be an extremely important part of the Globe, and nothing I have ever said or done suggests otherwise.”
In that case, how might Baron select McNamara’s successor? The existing metro-columnist arrangement reflects a kind of crude quota system: when scandals led to the firings of Mike Barnicle and Patricia Smith in 1998, McGrory got Barnicle’s Irish-American-populist slot and Adrian Walker got Smith’s African-American slot. If the pattern holds, McNamara will be replaced by another unrepentant liberal. But this framework predated Baron’s arrival at the paper, and he may prefer to jettison it — especially if it allows him to hire someone who’ll consistently break news, à la business columnist Steve Bailey.
Picking Ryan’s replacement may prove trickier. According to Globe insiders, the list of possible successors includes Doug Most, the editor of the paper’s Sunday magazine; Boston.com editor David Beard; business editor Caleb Solomon; Joseph Williams, news editor in the Washington bureau; city editor Foon Rhee; and senior assistant business editor Shirley Leung. Moving Most, Beard, or Solomon would create another high-profile vacancy, however — and one or more of the three might balk at ceding the relative autonomy of their current position. Meanwhile, Globe sources tell the Phoenix that both Rhee and Leung could be too green for the role. Given all these considerations, Williams might be the prohibitive favorite — especially since his appointment would put an African-American in a key Globe editorial post for the first time since 2002, when managing editor Greg Moore left to become editor of the Denver Post.
Baron is the decider, of course, and he declined comment on the criteria he’ll use when filling the two positions. One rumor currently circulating in the Globe that could further muddy the picture: might metro columnist McGrory take the metro-editor job if asked?
On the Web
Adam Reilly's Media Log: //www.thephoenix.com/medialog