BY DAN
KENNEDY
Notes and observations on
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See the World Through My Daughter's Eyes (Rodale, October 2003),
click
here.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
NOT-SO-TABLOID VALUES. The
Boston Herald today opted for substance over sensation in a
heartening way. Like the Boston Globe, the tabloid led with
Superior Court judge Margot Botsford's ruling that the state's system
for financing public education is inadequate and discriminates
against poorer communities.
The front-page splash in the
Herald is "SAVE OUR SCHOOLS," along with a photo of Julie
Hancock, the Brockton 10th-grader who is the lead plaintiff in the
lawsuit. (Hancock is the daughter of Brockton School Committee member
Maurice Hancock.) Inside is a meaty, two-page package - a
lead
story by Kevin Rothstein,
sidebars by Rothstein on Hancock
and school-funding activist Norma
Shapiro, a column
(sub. req.) by Mike Barnicle (who failed to stay on message, instead
going off on a bender about gay marriage), and a chart showing
educational inequities between rich and poor communities.
The Globe's coverage,
by Anand Vaishnav, is fine, and I'll certainly take the
Globe's supportive
editorial over the
Herald's miserly
stance. But the
Herald's package was, I hope, a sign that acting editor Ken
Chandler's reign isn't going to be all sex and celebrity.
posted at 1:14 PM |
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MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
