DEAR READER,
This past Sunday, the Boston Globe published a spoof editorial page with the banner headline “DEPORTATIONS TO BEGIN.” The satirical gloss on a package called “A front page in Donald Trump’s America,” the bundle was accompanied by a serious op-ed about why Trump and rival Republican presidential front-runner Ted Cruz are awful for America. It’s not that we don’t get the joke or have a sense of humor; hell, the Dig has produced a number of faux-election covers over the past several years, and they’ve been hella funnier than anything the Globe has ever printed. Nor is our problem with the stunt cover that which many others are noting, which is that the Globe is too serious a publication to engage in such humor (we disagree). Rather, we take issue with the utterly trite approach and with editors’ thinking that a regional newspaper—damn, any newspaper—could do damage to the Donald by regurgitating tired cries of demagoguery (they used some form of the word three times in this particular screed). If there’s any impact, it’s that the (pay)wall between the Globe and the public just got 10 feet taller. With that said, if you feel the same way we do, then you sure are going to love Media Farm this week.
CHRIS FARAONE, NEWS+FEATURES EDITOR
OH, CRUEL WORLD
