[Cross-posted from the ProgressMass blog. Like ProgressMass on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.]
Massachusetts has seen some important political races recently, including last year’s Brown-Warren U.S. Senate race (was that just last year?!), this spring’s special U.S. Senate election to succeed Secretary of State John Kerry, and the campaign to be Boston’s first new Mayor in two decades. At times, Massachusetts’ newspaper of record, the Boston Globe, has received some criticism for its coverage in these races.
Massachusetts’ next marquee political race is the 2014 campaign for Governor. While Election Day in that race is almost a year away, criticism of the Boston Globe’s coverage in that race may begin with the paper’s decision to devote coverage yesterday to presumptive Republican nominee Charlie Baker going shoe shopping. Yes, you read that right, the Boston Globe decided to cover Republican Charlie Baker going shoe shopping. The lede:
Sporting a decorative tie in celebration of his 57th birthday, gubernatorial hopeful Charles D. Baker bounded into Panza Shoes on Wednesday afternoon and made a cheerful declaration to everyone in the store: He was going to buy new footwear.
“I could really use another pair of dress shoes; I’m like 12D, maybe,” he told Robert Bronzetti, an employee at the shop in downtown Framingham.
“I’m not much of a loafer guy,” Baker explained as he carefully looked at the collection of fancy shoes on display. “I’m more of a tie-shoe guy.”
Baker also expressed interest in more casual kicks.
He tried on a pair of New Balance sneakers with orange trim, size 13D, and was pleased with how they felt.
Seriously. Those were the first five paragraphs of the Boston Globe’s story yesterday on the 2014 gubernatorial race in Massachusetts. Subsequent text fawned over Republican Charlie Baker, using phrases including “relentlessly, often boyishly, cheerful” and “Melding witty repartee with wonkish enthusiasm for policy.” Given Team Baker’s obsessive effort on trying to make Baker seem less harshly negative than he appeared to voters in 2010, this article could aptly be described as comically favorable coverage for Baker, along with being devoid of substance.
It shouldn’t matter how slow a news day the Boston Globe determines it to be. The Globe should be embarrassed by the utter triviality of this piece of coverage, especially when there are so many more substantive questions that they could have used their unique access to ask Republican Charlie Baker instead of getting the big scoop on what his shoe size is.
To aid the Boston Globe to that end, here is a list of purely issue-based questions, many still lingering from Republican Charlie Baker’s failed 2010 gubernatorial bid, that they should have asked instead of “What’s your shoe size?”
1) In 2010, you notoriously ducked questions regarding whether or not you believed in climate change. Do you still join national Republicans in ignoring or denying widely agreed upon scientific findings regarding climate change?
2) In 2010, you joined right-wing social conservatives in not only opposing but also derisively mocking an important piece of legislation pertaining to LGBT equality as “the bathroom bill.” Do you regret disparaging the LGBT community and has your position changed at all on that legislation since 2010?
3) In 2010, you proudly touted your high rating from the gun lobby and even called gun safety efforts “misguided.” Considering the gun lobby’s success in blocking the passage of any basic gun safety legislation – including universal background checks – following gun massacres in recent years in Tucson, Aurora, Oak Creek, Newtown, and many others, do you think that the gun lobby wields too much influence, and do you regret calling gun safety efforts “misguided”?
4) Last month, you criticized the idea of a minimum wage increase, arguing that a minimum wage increase would lead to “people losing job opportunities” and other economic harm. Are you unaware of the numerous studies across the country spanning multiple decades that find that increasing the minimum wage does not harm employment, and do those studies’ findings impact your view of a minimum wage increase at all?
5) You blamed last month’s shutdown of our federal government on “leaders in both parties” despite the American people placing the blame squarely at Republicans’ feet. Having had a month to reflect on the shutdown, do you still feel that the blame for the shutdown rested with “leaders in both parties” or do you agree with the American people in faulting Speaker John Boehner and Republicans in Washington?
All that said, if you’re still engaged with the Boston Globe’s cliffhanger about Republican Charlie Baker’s trip to the shoe store, the article concludes:
At the shoe store, after trying on the pair of New Balance sneakers, he slipped into some well-buffed Bostonian dress shoes
“God, they sure are shiny when they’re new,” he said with a touch of awe.
He bought both pairs.
Truly breaking news.
Often the lighter side it seems. There will be plenty of time for policy questions, preferably when more voters are actually paying attention.
and then there’s this.
with a very big photo. I’m inclined to give the Globe a pass on something like that. I’m assuming/hoping this ran deep inside the Metro section.
Baker’s insult to the trans equal rights bill was compounded by the legislature’s truncation of the bill, stripping out anti-discrimination protections in public accommodations. There is no guaranteed equality of access to public accommodations in Massachusetts because of defamatory portrayals of trans people as sexual predators.
There is legislation pending in the House of Representatives to expand anti-discrimination guarantees to include public accommodations. Because the arguments against the new bill depend on vicious stereotypes fair-minded people see through the opposition to the simple imperative of equality.
Baker needs to energetically distance himself from groups like the Mass. Family Institute with which he was currying favor when he defamed trans people. He should apologize for spreading bigotry when he referred to the trans rights bill as the “bathroom bill.” And he should endorse the legislation. Needless to say, I’m skeptical.
There’s been a lot of bad articles from the Globe over the past couple years in their “campaign coverage,” but this one takes the cake — simply because it’s not news at all. I’m not opposed to the occasional puff piece — not everything can be hard news — but even the puff pieces should ostensibly be news.
The Globe could have done a general biography story, focusing on some period of his life — under the guise of showing a little insight into Baker’s soul, perhaps.
But shoe shopping does not do that at all.
I’d call this the TMZ of political coverage, but not even TMZ would be interested in anyone’s shoe size.
But I’m not
These newspapers aren’t gonna sell themselves, see, and it’s off-season for baseball right? I love a playoff race as much as anyone else right, but that ain’t nothin’ compared to the ultimate race — elections. Eager punters with lots of money will drop $500 for a fundraiser who would turn their nose up at a $50 baseball ticket. Those people need a race and we’re gonna give ’em one.
See it’s a real problem. When you have 32 pro teams, you can guess that at least 2 will be at an upper level, right? So your Red Sox will have a decent Tigers or Cardinals team to beat. Politics ain’t like that. So the media needs to create that decent number 2, out of nothing if need be. It’s gotta turn “Who?” into SCOTT BROWN Regular Guy, or “seriously?” into Your Buddy Scott Baker. Let’s face it, if one side keep nominating billionaires, venture capital managers and health care company executives, they need some help. And that’s what the Globe is for — to turn their losers into legit contenders so they have a race they can use to sell papers. Nobody watches a blowout after the second quarter, and nobody buys papers for a race that isn’t close.
So step right up Chris Christie, Scott Baker, and everyone else. The media will help you make the race competitive…it’s a millionaire courtesy thing.