Boston News Today - DEAR READER: 4/14/2016

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

Dear Holiday Guest on Sitcom,

I know, it’s a sitcom. It’s not supposed to be real, like how they have that ridiculously big apartment on Friends. And how Doogie Howser is constantly getting laid on that other show. But you really need to stop showing up to holiday dinners with a giant turkey. For one, that’s just not the sort of thing you bring cooked. And for shows in which somebody brings one uncooked, well, clearly the writer had never cooked a turkey, because it takes fucking hours. How about you just leave the cooking and eating to us. Clearly we have some extra time on our hands.