How Cambridge can put public need before private greed A five-hour city council hearing can really get you thinking. As I sat watching the latest chapter in the East Cambridge courthouse saga unfold at city hall on Monday, I mulled over what it would take to start moving the city away from dependence […]
TOO MANY COPS
Some thoughts about last Saturday’s counterprotest It’s Labor Day as I start this column and I don’t want to labor too much on it, but I think it’s important to reflect upon a particular aspect of Saturday’s counterprotest against an ultra right-wing “parade” that hasn’t gotten nearly as much press attention as it […]
MORE REASONS TO RESIGN FROM THE MIT MEDIA LAB
The connection to Jeffrey Epstein is just one of many questionable relationships Recently, two scholars announced their plans to cut ties with the MIT Media Lab over its longstanding relationship with Jeffrey Epstein—the New York financier who had been arrested on federal charges for the alleged sex trafficking of minors in Florida and […]
HEARTBURN: THE COMMON DIETARY CHALLENGE THAT RESTAURANTS IGNORE
And the simple thing chefs can do to help sufferers Last Saturday night, my wife and I went out for drinks and snacks at a well-known local restaurant. It’s the kind of place that can get expensive if you’re having a full meal, but isn’t too pricey for a couple of small plates. […]
DON’T BUY WHAT CAMBRIDGE MAYOR MCGOVERN IS SELLING
An East Cambridge courthouse update It’s sad when a local public official claims powerlessness before real estate developers, the market, and state government. But that’s exactly what Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern is doing in the latest round of the already half-century long East Cambridge Courthouse saga. Which I wrote about in some detail […]
NO MOONSHOT REQUIRED
Can a neoliberal columnist for a billionaire’s newspaper understand that a better MBTA is possible if we tax the rich (and make public transportation truly public)? It’s hardly a secret that I’m no fan of Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung’s writing on matters political and economic. Which clearly reflects her belief that bringing […]
SECOND HEARING ON MA JOURNALISM COMMISSION BILL A SUCCESS
Over 80 journalists, journalism students, and professors answer DigBoston’s call to turn out Amazingly, I’m on my first real vacation in four years this week. But I think it’s important to pen a truncated version of my usual column to thank the 80 plus people (about half of whom were journalism students… yay!) […]
GIVE MA JOURNALISM COMMISSION SEATS TO WORKING JOURNALISTS
This week, I joined fellow journalists, journalism educators, and members of the public at large in testifying on a bill to form a Mass journalism commission that is currently before the state legislature. In view of the potential importance of the initiative, my column this week is simply the text of my testimony. For […]
NO MASS COMMISSION TO STUDY JOURNALISM WITHOUT REPORTER INPUT
Between the countless white papers already in existence and the obvious reality on the ground that any reporter who has been in the game for more than a year can tell you about, there is already more than enough information to start planning ways to reverse the destruction that the likes of leeches such as Gatehouse Media have wrought in Mass.
THE RIGHT QUESTION FOR THE BROAD LEFT
On July 5, start asking the Democrats, “What policies will help working families?” The patriotic season is upon us. With it comes the arrival of the 2020 presidential race—far too early, in my estimation. Which in turn tends to generate conservative political ripples all the way down to the local level in the […]
