Journal-was-m? Newspapers put the spotlight on wrongdoing.

Wikipedia image of The Boston Globe HQ

I love newspapers and have for most of my life. My first job in a suburb of Boston was delivering The Boston Globe, The Herald Traveler, and, to a small number of select readers, The Record American. In the afternoons, another guy from my neighborhood delivered The Patriot Ledger to my house. 

In her recent piece about newspapers, syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker mentioned The Globe’s Spotlight series which investigated predatory priests. While I was going to B.C. High, the school across Morrissey Blvd. from The Globe, I played for two years on a soccer team coached by James “Mad Dog” Talbot. 

Talbot was one of the characters in the acclaimed movie about the Spotlight series. By his own admission, he victimized as many as eighty-nine young men. In all likelihood, I was acquainted with several of them. I certainly recall that there were a number of soccer players who were good athletes who quit the team for no apparent reason.

The Spotlight series about pedophile priests was the result of several reporters and an editor working together for a long time to get beneath the surface. Without that kind of journalism, which can shed light on wrongdoing, Talbot and other priests like him may never have been brought to justice.

Bloggers and TV news teams are, for the most part, surface scratchers. They’re not equipped to dig deep. Also, they don't have the time for it. Unfortunately, most newspapers no longer have the resources to dig deep either. We may not be seeing much journalism that gets beneath the surface in the future. That’s a pity.

Notes 

I still get two newspapers delivered to the end of my driveway. Old school, huh?

Maybe we should start referring to what used to be know as "journalism" as "journal-was-m."

I pitched an article here and there about what I saw at B.C. High, but nobody wanted it. I posted the story on one of my blogs, and then took it down when it seemed like nobody was reading it anymore.  It’s still out there on another website for anyone who wants to take a look. 

My father was in the Mailers’ Union and he got me a few shifts on Saturday nights in the Boston Globe mailroom while I was going to B.C. High. The job was inserting all the ads in the papers, back when the Sunday papers were gigantic. I really enjoyed getting the Sunday paper at the end of the shift and being able to read it before most people could get a hold of it. 

Walter Robinson, the editor portrayed by Michael Keaton in the movie, graduated from B.C. High in the 60s.

Paul Guilfoyle, the actor (Brass on CSI) who played Catholic power broker Pete Conley in the movie, also graduated from B.C. High in the 60s. He also spoke at the commencement in 2005. 

The P.R. guy in the movie and the hockey player who testified against Talbot both graduated in 1979, a year after I did.