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Where's the line separating access from advocacy? That's what some observers are asking following the revelation of Patriots owner Bob Kraft's plan to build a $200 million, privately financed stadium in South Boston. Too close?
The secret Kraft meeting; plus, the Herald shuffle
by Dan Kennedy
Kraft held an off-the-record meeting with business leaders at BankBoston on December 4. Among the participants: Boston Herald publisher Pat Purcell and Boston Globe editor Matt Storin.
Then, on December 10, Kraft met with South Boston political leaders in an attempt to overcome strong neighborhood opposition. The facilitator: Globe sports columnist Will McDonough, a fact that the Herald revealed in its own account of the meeting.
Some questions:
Did Purcell drop a dime to his newsroom, enabling the Herald to beat the Globe with a front-page story on the Kraft plan on December 6? Insiders at the Herald say they've heard this one making the rounds, and they insist that the answer is no. Storin, for the record, accepts that. "Reporters can turn up information on their own," he says.
Why did the editor of the Globe agree to attend an off-the-record briefing? Critics suggest that the Globe should have been represented by someone from the business side of the paper, as the Herald was. Nieman Foundation curator Bill Kovach, though not specifically critical of Storin, says he avoided such briefings when he was editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I just have a visceral problem with gathering and collecting information that's only useful to me and not to the community," Kovach says. Storin, though, says the meeting was similar to numerous off-the-record briefings he attends, and that no one should interpret his actions as an endorsement of Kraft's plan. "I find that my reporters don't need me to get information, and I can go to these meetings and sometimes learn things that can be useful in guiding stories," says Storin.
Did McDonough act improperly? McDonough, a South Boston native who grew up with many of the neighborhood's politicians, could not be reached for comment. But State Senator Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston) says McDonough did nothing more than introduce Kraft and Boston City Council president Jim Kelly, of South Boston, as friends of his. "He was not part of any discussion," Lynch says. Storin's reaction: "I suppose ideally someone else should have set the meeting up, but I don't have any problem with what he [McDonough] did."
Two observations: no ethical felonies were committed by either paper, although McDonough appears to be guilty of a misdemeanor; and it's crucial that both papers remain completely free of any entangling alliances -- especially if the editorial pages cast their lot with Kraft, as seems likely given their positive initial reaction.
The Herald has taken a big step toward refurbishing its once-vaunted political unit by making veteran staffer Joe Sciacca its deputy managing editor for politics and special projects, naming a new State House bureau, and plugging holes in its City Hall and investigative teams.
Sciacca was political editor once before, until July 1995, when Wally Roche was hired from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Roche, who's now at the Baltimore Sun, left two weeks before Election Day, with insiders saying that Herald management was unhappy with Roche's uncommunicative style and that Roche was unhappy with the paper's culture.
Though not much of a policy wonk, Sciacca is respected for his knowledge of the nuts and bolts of politics. His previous stint as an editor came to an end at his request, but he insists that he welcomes his new job. He'll continue his Monday column.
State and local politics has traditionally been an area in which the Herald has been competitive with its larger rival. In 1996, though, the Globe clearly set the pace in the John Kerry-Bill Weld US Senate contest. "They seemed to have their act a little better together than we did," admits Sciacca, who adds that he's confident his new team can get back in the race.
Although Roche refused to talk with the Phoenix, he's been telling friends he left because the Herald didn't want him to gore Weld and other favorites. Sciacca adamantly denies that. Adds managing editor for news Andrew Gully: "I don't care what Wally says. I wish him well in his new job."
Certainly the Herald has published its share of stories embarrassing to Weld. Nevertheless, there's no doubt that Pat Purcell's decision to run several front-page editorials endorsing Weld's Senate candidacy long before Election Day damaged the perception that the Herald was playing it straight down the middle.
* Going to the State House are Herald staffer Ed Hayward and Carolyn Ryan, just hired from the Quincy Patriot Ledger. Connie Paige returns to general assignment, and Joe Battenfeld, who remains as chief political reporter, will shuttle between the State House and City Hall.
* City Hall will be handled by Jack Sullivan and Maggie Mulvihill. Sullivan, who'll focus on education, replaces Tim Cornell, who moves to general assignment. City Hall reporter Andrea Estes will assume Mulvihill's old superior-court beat, and Sullivan's departure as night city editor creates a vacancy to be filled.
* General-assignment reporter David Talbot will join Jack Meyers on the "Impact Team," the paper's investigative unit.
* City editor Dan Rosenfeld will switch from the Sunday Herald to the daily morning shift, replacing Janet Walsh, who'll move to afternoons. No word on Rosenfeld's replacement.
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Dan Kennedy's work can also be accessed from his Web site: http://www1.shore.net/~dkennedy/
Dan Kennedy can be reached at dkennedy@phx.com.