Copyright © 1998 by the Boston Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved.

This Just In: Global exodus

Another one hits the road

By Dan Kennedy

The Boston Globe will lose a major young talent later this spring when Michael Grunwald leaves to cover the Justice Department for the Washington Post. A Harvard graduate, Grunwald began writing for the Globe in 1990 and joined the staff in 1992 -- doing a stint as a general-assignment reporter, covering the State House, and, since the 1996 election, working as the paper's roving national correspondent. And he's still just 27.

Grunwald could not be reached for comment. But sources say he had made it clear that he was not unhappy at the Globe, and that editor Matt Storin worked hard to keep him from leaving. Still, his departure speaks to a disconcerting inability on the Globe's part to hang on to some of its better young writers. In just the past couple of years, Matt Bai has left for Newsweek, Shirley Leung and Jon Auerbach for the Wall Street Journal, and David Halbfinger for the New York Times. Add to that the departure of two key midcareer professionals, foreign editor Phil Bennett (to the Washington Post) and Middle East correspondent Ethan Bronner (to the Times), and you begin to wonder just where the revolving door has been installed.

The Grunwald departure, say insiders, can be attributed to a tradition-bound newsroom culture that some young reporters chafe at. The Times, the Journal, and the Post will always call out to ambitious journalists. The challenge for Storin is to convince his rising stars that the Globe, too, is a place where they can grow and do their best work.