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Boston Phoenix archives, 1998
All articles by Dan Kennedy
The contents of this Web site are copyright © 1998 by Daniel D. Kennedy. The articles listed on this page are copyright © 1998 by the Boston Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.
December 25
THE TRIUMPH OF THE REAL
The media think it's all about them. Sex, war, and impeachment prove otherwise.
THIS JUST IN: Hypocrisy
A whole Lott of racial hatred.
December 18
TOXIC LEGACY
Behind -- and beyond -- the hype over A Civil Action: a reporter revisits the scene of the Woburn tragedy.
THIS JUST IN: Media
The conservatives give it their worst.
December 11
DON'T QUOTE ME: 'Body' language
Was Jesse Ventura's win proof of the Internet's power? Plus, Barnicle's Imus-driven comeback, and Newsweek eats its broccoli.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Don Feder's maladroit maliciousness.
THIS JUST IN: Cyberbitching
Web site cuts off media gossip.
December 4
DON'T QUOTE ME: Patriotic
Boston's dailies pave the way for a possible reversal of fortune.
THIS JUST IN: Apocalypse now
Academia ponders the end of the world.
November 27
DON'T QUOTE ME: Private lives
Fox 25 exploits gays for cheap ratings points. Plus, Bill Galvin dismisses Channel 7's solid voter-fraud story, and what's wrong with Beacon Hill coverage.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Vennochi moves to op-ed. Will Bailey replace her?
November 20
DON'T QUOTE ME: Caller ID
An intriguing talk-radio tale about truth, history, and revenge.
THIS JUST IN: Media
The Monitor reboots in a competitive new era.
November 13
DIRTY MINDS
The Internet's would-be censors are back with a dangerous new law that threatens free speech -- and, perversely, protects for-profit pornographers.
THIS JUST IN: Punditry
Dems surprise, but Clinton's still a loser.
November 6
THE BEST: Local heroes
The Ten Point Coaliton.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Grading the other horse race.
THIS JUST IN: World watch
The cost of free trade.
October 30
DON'T QUOTE ME: Column inches
The Globe replaces Patricia Smith and Mike Barnicle with reporters rather than personalities.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Barnicle's on-again, off-again op-ed is on again.
October 23
POLITICS: Third time's no charm
Peter Torkildsen's rematch with Representative John Tierney was supposed to put state Republicans back in business. So far, it's not working out that way.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Scott Shuger's silent scream.
October 16
DON'T QUOTE ME: Cash and parry
Excluded from the TV debates, the Libertarians challenge the campaign-finance law. One possible result: getting the media out of the debate business.
THIS JUST IN: Media
At Channel 7, Mighty Casey strikes out.
October 9
DON'T QUOTE ME: Team Clinton
Massachusetts's congressional Democrats emerge as the philanderer-in-chief's most reliable defenders.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Patricia Smith -- hot, cool, and creepy.
October 2
DON'T QUOTE ME: Dirty work
The Herald smears Mike Capuano in an overhyped front-page piece. Plus, Eileen McNamara and the Moonies, and Danny Schechter's missing lines.
THIS JUST IN: Media
WBUR unveils local newscast.
September 25
DON'T QUOTE ME: Starting over
The Globe should rethink what it wants from its metro columnists. Plus, video sex, and getting stupid on MSNBC.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Mike Barnicle: Comeback kid?
THIS JUST IN: Broadcast
Radio Free Allston founder fights the power.
September 18
STARR IN OUR EYES
We didn't need to know it. But now that we do, we can hardly ignore it.
THIS JUST IN: Media
The Globe lowers the cone of silence
September 11
DON'T QUOTE ME: Behind closed doors
The Herald's gossip about John Kerry is just more evidence of how Bill Clinton has degraded public life. Plus, Jeff Jacoby under rhetorical fire, and war correspondents under real fire.
THIS JUST IN: Getting even by Peter Kadzis and Dan Kennedy
Radio waves and aftershocks follow WBCN-Herald dustup.
THIS JUST IN: Head of the class
Tales from the crypt.
September 4
MIKHAIL STORIN
Boston Globe editor Matt Storin came to power amid promises of change. He brought reform, but reform was not enough. What was needed was a revolution, and time proved him unable -- or unwilling. Now there are whispers that his regime may be coming to an end.
August 28
DON'T QUOTE ME: Watching the watchdog
Steve Brill is at it again. His latest victim: Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates. Plus, quaking columnists, media sexism, and more.
THIS JUST IN: Media
The Globe cuts Jon Keller loose.
August 21
STRIKING SIMILARITIES
Mike Barnicle, this is A.J. Liebling. Have you met?
URBAN EYE: Hark, the new Herald
Coming Monday, in full color.
August 14
BARNICLE'S GAME
Why he should have been fired -- and why he wasn't.
August 7
BEFORE THE FLOOD by Harvey Silverglate and Dan Kennedy
Why Clinton should demand impeachment hearings.
THIS JUST IN: Barnicle on the brink
Actually, he wasn't thinking.
THIS JUST IN: Media by Dan Kennedy and S.I. Rosenbaum
When policy and news collide.
THIS JUST IN: Dept. of striking similarities
Those damn footsteps.
July 31
PERSONALLY: On my honor
Reflections on the war between the Boy Scout and the Unitarian Universalists -- by someone with a foot in both camps.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Can't win for losing.
July 24
DON'T QUOTE ME: Truth and consequences
The current outcry over sleazy media ethics makes it all too easy to discredit investigative reporting.
July 17
DON'T QUOTE ME: Think small
By choosing David Remnick as his new editor, Si Newhouse has a chance to return the New Yorker to its less-glitzy roots as a serious -- and maybe even profitable -- magazine.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Patricia Smith speaks out.
July 10
DON'T QUOTE ME: Green days
How corporate greed -- fueled by stock-market fever -- is destroying newspapers. Plus, more fallout from the Patricia Smith affair.
THIS JUST IN: Media
The education of Michael Kelly.
July 3
THE FIRST ANNUAL MUZZLE AWARDS
10 who undermined freedom of speech.
THIS JUST IN: Media
The return of James Fallows.
June 26
DON'T QUOTE ME: Sifting the ashes
Making sense of Patricia Smith's startling self-immolation.
THIS JUST IN: Media
The London Times fumbles the facts.
June 19
DON'T QUOTE ME: Grilled Brill
The founder of the much-hyped media watchdog Content is hoist on his own ethical petard.
THIS JUST IN: Free speech
A shameful -- and shameless -- performance.
THIS JUST IN: Media
'Nixon Beats Winship': The head that almost was.
June 12
POLITICS: Mean and meaner
Democratic AG candidates Lois Pines and Tom Reilly are the Republicans' best friends.
THIS JUST IN: Conventional wisdom
Boston DNC 2000 explained in three easy pieces.
June 5
POLITICS: Party hardly
Democratic gubernatorial candidates must combat a once-unthinkable reality: Republicans now have the psychological edge.
May 29
DON'T QUOTE ME: Fundraising scandal
No, not that kind of scandal. This one involves two newspapers, old charges, and angry finger-pointing.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Photographer teaches Herald a copyright lesson.
May 22
GET ME REWRITE
The Boston Globe is one of the best regional papers in the country. So why is its local coverage so disengaged, so uneven -- and so dull?
THIS JUST IN: Media
The 'Cereal Killer' comes to Harvard.
May 15
THIS JUST IN: Media
Bitch, bitch, bitch.
THIS JUST IN: Global exodus
Another one hits the road.
May 8
DON'T QUOTE ME: Hardball
Accusations that the Globe croaked the Monitor Channel recall a previous media war. Plus, blood, guts, and TV news; and Pedro, sĢ, espaŅol, no.
THIS JUST IN: Do not pass go
A populist tax-cutter stays on the sidelines.
May 1
DON'T QUOTE ME: Still beat your wife?
How Matt Drudge's lawyer, with the help of the media, revived an ugly -- and untrue -- rumor. Plus, Salon and the Wall Street Journal square off.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Malone camp stews over Cellucci birthday bash.
THIS JUST IN: Biden his time
Don't know much about history.
April 24
TALKING POLITICS: Could've been Worcester by Michael Crowley with Dan Kennedy
Cellucci brings it on: the Firehouse bar, Dave Matthews, a slick video. But Joe 'Call me Rocky' Malone survives.
THIS JUST IN: Media
The return of the semen-stained dress.
THIS JUST IN: Spell check
Barnicle goes 0 for 3.
April 17
DON'T QUOTE ME: Are they scandals?
Boston versus Gates, the Globe versus Flynn, Barnicle versus Eagan.
THIS JUST IN: Pulitzers
Sucking up at the Washington Post.
April 10
DON'T QUOTE ME: Sound and fury
Howie Carr's claim that he has off-the-air tapes of former radio colleague Marjorie Clapprood heats up a bitter rivalry.
April 3
DON'T QUOTE ME: No doubting Thomas
Boston Globe columnist Tom Oliphant takes himself out of the game with his over-the-top defense of Bill Clinton.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Scientology's 'tortured' logic.
March 27
DON'T QUOTE ME: Prince of the city
Lowell Sun publisher Kendall Wallace has used political muscle to revitalize his hometown. But his style raises questions about a newspaper's proper role.
THIS JUST IN: Media
The railroading of Ron Carey.
March 20
DON'T QUOTE ME: Forgotten man
The media's obsession with scandal helped derail Joe Kennedy's political ambitions. But by the time he pulled out, he was yesterday's news.
THIS JUST IN: London calling
The 'secret wives' of Bob Dylan.
THIS JUST IN: Media
A tragic suicide, and an ugly fallout.
March 13
DON'T QUOTE ME: Tsk, tsk, tsk
The journalism reviews don't like Fornigate one little bit. Plus, the Herald versus Scientology, and Michael Kelly's dis-and-tell disclosure.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Trade mag traces computer woes at Big Dig.
March 6
SHOW ME THE MONEY
Eight years ago the state promised a $1.3 billion tax hike would be temporary. Fulfilling that promise now would wreck the budget. Care to guess where your tax dollars went?
THIS JUST IN: Media
Howard Kurtz on the limits of spin.
February 27
THIS JUST IN: Follow-up
The police versus the Globe: Whose truth is truest?
THIS JUST IN: Media
Radio Free Allston's off-air crusade.
February 20
DON'T QUOTE ME: Fire, ready, aim
The Boston Police Department's attack against the Globe claims a casualty: its own credibility. Plus, notes from the Monica underground.
THIS JUST IN: Media
WBUR's new frontier: Boston.
February 13
MEAT PUPPETS
Government regulators, the food industry, and most scientists agree that food irradiation is safe and effective. Michael Colby doesn't care: he wants it stopped. Is he a hero or a menace?
DON'T QUOTE ME: Scandalus interruptus
The media thought Fornigate was going to be simple, salacious, and fun. Now it's starting to look like work.
THIS JUST IN: Media
Joe Malone's shouting match with the Globe.
February 6
DON'T QUOTE ME: Backlash
As the negative headlines mount, Clinton's popularity has hit new heights. But the press needs to ignore the polls, stop its handwringing, and stay the course.
THIS JUST IN: Media
The inside track on names and faces.
January 30
DON'T QUOTE ME: Mr. Personality
Ed Cafasso, the attorney general's press secretary, is passionate, aggressive, and confrontational. Does that help or hurt Scott Harshbarger?
THIS JUST IN: Media
A no-news feeding frenzy.
January 23
DON'T QUOTE ME: Playing with fire
WRKO's new morning host indulges in some dicey race rhetoric. Plus, Matt Drudge's dumb luck.
THIS JUST IN: Follow-up
Silence is golden at BC Law.
January 16
THIS JUST IN: Sibling rivalries
Demoulas v. Demoulas v. Globe v. Herald
January 9
DON'T QUOTE ME: Lost in the myth
The Globe bids Michael Kennedy an exceedingly gentle farewell. Plus, Szep and the Irish, and this side of parodies.
THIS JUST IN: Media
The fat of the land.
January 2
DON'T QUOTE ME: Take two
Arrogance cost Jan Schlichtmann the victory he sought in the Woburn toxic-waste trial 11 years ago. But never mind. Now Hollywood's A Civil Action is turning him into a winner.
THIS JUST IN: Media
From classical to classified at WCRB.
