Threat to [Boston] Globe triggers flood of feelings

[Forkboy]

Yesterday, the region confronted the possibility that The Boston Globe might cease to exist, after publishing daily for 137 years. News that The New York Times Co. might shut down the biggest newspaper in New England if its unions don't swiftly agree to $20 million in cuts sent a shockwave throughout Greater Boston, sparking an outcry from places as disparate as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Johnny's Luncheonette in Newton Centre, and voices as varied as US Senator John F. Kerry and Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band. To some readers, such a loss seemed unimaginable, but others said the transformation from paper to the Internet is inevitable.

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"To someone like me who's very involved in civic life in the communities, it's unimaginable,'' said Paul S. Grogan, president of the Boston Foundation, a major funder of nonprofit organizations in the state. He called the Globe the "civic glue'' that keeps the public together.

"Almost every leader in Boston -- in the public sector, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector -- reads The Boston Globe every day. It gives the community a shared sense of what the issues are, what the challenges are. . . . I just don't see that being replaced.''

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Critics of the Globe, especially in anonymous comments posted on the newspaper's website, said the newspaper was falling victim not just to turbulent economic times but what they called its own "liberal bias,'' though they did not provide specific examples.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/04/05/threat_to_globe_triggers_flood_of_feelings/


"...what they called its own "liberal bias,'' though they did not provide specific examples..."

Gee, there's a shock.

[depakid]

1. Newsppaer comment sections are chock full of AM hate radio types

It's actually embarrassing if you're an American. Makes everyone look profoundly stupid.