Fintan O’Toole’s review in The New York Times of Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump” includes a perfect summation of the fundamental challenge to journalism in the Age of Trump:
The profession is shaped by an assumption that has been around at least since the Greek tragedians: Revelation is followed by reversal. When Oedipus’ (or Richard Nixon’s) crimes are exposed, he must fall from power. But not so Trump. With a few notable exceptions, he relies on a collective shrug of indifference from those in his support system, and defies exposure. What can journalists do in a world where there is no shame and, apparently, no consequence?
It calls to mind then-Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron’s well-known response to a question about whether the Post was at war with Trump. “We’re not at war with the administration, we’re at work,” he replied — a succinct statement of how journalists should approach their coverage.
John Yemma, at the far end of the conference table, presides over a news meeting at The Christian Science Monitor. Photo (cc) 2011 by Dan Kennedy.
John Yemma, the retired top editor of The Christian Science Monitor, whose journalism career was long and distinguished, died June 10 at 74. If you’re a Boston Globe subscriber, I recommend this obituary, written by Bryan Marquard wrote. If not, you should read this.
Yemma filled a number of top positions at the Globe, but it was at the Monitor that I got to spend some time with him in reporting a 2009 story for CommonWealth Magazine (now CommonWealth Beacon) about his plans to reinvent the venerable newspaper for the digital age. He struck me as someone who is fundamentally serene and kind, confirmed by the tributes I’ve seen pouring in for him the past few days.
The basics of Yemma’s plan for the Monitor are still in place: a daily email newsletter; a digital-first approach to covering the news; and a weekly print magazine gathering the best of the Monitor’s journalism. The Monitor’s journalistic approach might be described as calm and solutions-oriented, and it remains a first-rate news organization. Here’s what I wrote in 2009.
Second life
The Christian Science Monitor reinvents itself for the digital age
CommonWealth Magazine | Jan. 20, 2009
Sometime this April, one of New England’s most venerable daily newspapers will cease to be a daily newspaper.
The Christian Science Monitor, which marked its 100th anniversary this past November, is beginning its second century as a multi-platform, multimedia news organization. Central to this new identity will be its free website, CSMonitor.com, begun a dozen years ago and now freed from the constraints of the daily print cycle. The website, in turn, will be supplemented by a daily email edition and a weekly, subscriber-supported magazine.
Though the transformation has long been anticipated, it nevertheless represents a signal moment for the five-days-a-week paper, whose circulation exceeded 230,000 at its peak in the early 1970s. (It’s currently around 55,000.) A few small, local papers have abandoned their daily print editions, but the Monitor is the first national paper to do so.
Eddie Andelman. Boston Herald Radio photo via YouTube.
Sports radio pioneer Eddie Andelman has died at 89. I grew up listening to Andelman, and in 1997 I had a chance to write a profile of him for Northeastern Magazine, which was Northeastern University’s alumni publication at the time; Andelman earned his MBA in 1962.
An anecdote that didn’t make it into the story: In the summer of 1975, Andelman, who was then a contributor to one of the local TV stations, was standing outside Park Station, offering $5 to anyone who could spell “Yastrzemski.” I nailed it, and appeared on the news that evening.
Like all of us, Andelman had his good and bad sides. I was glad that the magazine didn’t insist on hagiography, although in retrospect I wish we had described a racist joke Andelman told on the air as, you know, racist. As you’ll see, we settled on “outrageous.” It was worse than that, and that’s not just on him but on me and my editor, too.
Getting a handle on Eddie Andelman
Northeastern Magazine | May 1997
It’s a few minutes before airtime, and Eddie Andelman, MBA’62, is going over some final instructions with one of his producers.
“You got any of that holy music?” Andelman asks. The producer replies in the affirmative. Andelman runs down the list. A burst of “The Hallelujah Chorus”? Check. Hank Williams singing “Jambalaya”? Check.
James Talarico speaks at a rally in Texas. Photo (cc) 2025 by H. Michael Karshis.
If you lean left and have ever “liked” a liberal social media post, you and your email inbox are probably familiar — oh, so familiar — with ActBlue, a platform that serves as a fundraising platform for Democratic candidates. And it’s only worse if you’ve actually donated to a candidate — something I don’t do because I’m a journalist.
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But if you’ve wished that ActBlue would just go away, be careful. Ken Paxton, the floridly corrupt Republican Senate candidate from Texas, wants you to believe that he’s coming to your rescue. Acting in his capacity as his state’s attorney general, he sued ActBlue in December 2023. Now he’s trying to use that suit as a cudgel in his campaign to defeat his Democratic opponent, James Talarico. So far, that suit isn’t going anywhere.
I encountered this turtle chilling by the side of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in West Concord earlier today. I believe it’s an eastern painted turtle, but if you have other ideas, let me know.
Boston Globe reporter Amanda Milkovits, left, talks about her reporting with WPRI-TV (Channel 12) anchor Kayla Fish.
When police officers arrest someone and charge them with a crime, they are required to provide the public with information on that person’s name, address and the charges being brought. That’s a basic part of the public records law in Rhode Island and most other states.
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But the Rhode Island attorney general’s office has come up with a mind-boggling exception: if someone is arrested and not charged, then the police are under no obligation to make that information public. According to Boston Globe reporter Amanda Milkovits, that’s the alleged loophole being invoked (sub. req.) in the case of James Barsoum, who was arrested by Pawtucket police last September in Central Falls. As Milkovits writes:
Last fall, Pawtucket police officers went into a neighboring city without alerting the local police, tackled a resident in his home, seized his dog, booked the man, and put him in a jail cell. He was released hours later without being charged with a crime — and without an explanation.
The official who has come up with this novel interpretation of the public records law is Special Assistant Attorney General Patrick Reynolds, who explained that he was rejecting the Globe’s request for records related to Barsoum’s arrest because even though “there is a public interest in what transpired here, and that the mistaken arrest of a member of the public is highly concerning,” that is outweighed by “privacy interests” guaranteed by a law sealing records when a person has not been charged with a crime.
So come on down, Patrick Reynolds, and claim your New England Muzzle Award. It is well-deserved.
As for Barsoum’s “privacy interests,” keep in mind that he’s been interviewed (sub. req.) about his ordeal, allowed himself to be photographed (with his dog, by the way) and filed a complaint about his arrest. Keep in mind, too, that Central Falls police complied with the Globe’s public-records request, including providing bodycam video. It’s only the Pawtucket police who are holding back, and the AG’s office is letting them get away with it.
“Police in this state can break into your house, wrongfully arrest you, and never have to explain themselves to the communities they serve,” Justin Silverman, the executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, told the Globe. “Think about that: So long as charges aren’t brought, arrests can occur in secrecy and the police reports can be permanently sealed or destroyed. It’s a situation ripe for abuse.”
The Northeastern team behind “Caught in the Current.” Back row from left: Azariah Baker, Beck Orten, Grace Sawin, Hayes Botnick. Middle row from left: Mia Filler, Ali Caudle, Professor Carlene Hempel, Namira Haris, Claire Ogden. Front row from left: Sydney Woogerd, Eva Ciolek Passeri, Valentina Gutierrez.
On the latest “What Works” podcast, Ellen Clegg and I talk withProfessor Carlene Hempel at Northeastern and her studentSydney Woogerd. This spring, Carlene brought a team of student journalists to Asheville, North Carolina, for a week-long intensive reporting trip that focused on the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
The result: a digital multimedia investigation called“Caught in the Current: Helene Recovery in Asheville and Beyond.”Put simply, this is a stunning project, with podcasts, videos, photos and text. There’s a great soundtrack. Please do yourself a favor and spend some time with it.
Carlene has been a journalism professor at Northeastern University for more than 20 years. She specializes in teaching long-form narrative writing as well as creating on-site, pop-up newsrooms domestically and abroad for her courses. Her 2025 reporting class and resulting magazine about the 10-year anniversary of Flint, Michigan’swater crisiswon two national reporting awards.
From Sydney Woogerd’s story “Lost and Found.”
Sydney is studying journalism and international affairs at Northeastern University with a focus on multimedia storytelling. She serves as co-photo director forThe Avenue, a student-led fashion publication, where she directs visual strategy and creates editorial content. She has also contributed toThe Huntington NewsandArtistry Magazineas a writer and photographer documenting community stories across Boston. Sydney served as the project’s photo editor.
I’ve got a Quick Take about our recent What Workswebinar on “Audience, AI and Events” for local-news publishers, journalists and volunteers. If you missed it, you can watch the videos here.
Ellen shares five lessons learned from watching how the projects that were subjects of our book,“What Works in Community News,”have evolved.
I’m sorry, but this is just appalling. South Shore News, which uses AI to generate lifelike stories about local government meetings in 19 communities south of Boston, is rolling out subscription fees — and some people are actually paying.
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Aidan Ryan reports (sub. req.) in The Boston Globe that Justin Evans, the founder and and editor as well as a Whitman selectboard member, has signed up 350 paid subscribers, “many of whom are deeply invested in town politics and want to learn more about how neighboring townsfrom Weymouth down to Plymouth are tackling common issues.”
Click here or on image to watch on Contrarian Boston.
On the latest episode of “Beat the Press with Emily Rooney,” we take a long look at the implosion of “60 Minutes,” the 58-year-old CBS News staple that has been torn apart by Bari Weiss and her choice to run the program, Nick Bilton.
Why did CBS executives fire Scott Pelley? What are we to make of Pelley’s claim in a New York Times interview that Weiss tried to inject bias and at least one falsehood into his report on the killings of Minneapolis protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents? What’s next for “60 Minutes,” which not only continues to be a ratings leader but actually grew over the past year? Does the new Trump-friendly owner, David Ellison, care about any of this?
Also: World Cup watch parties and our panel’s Rants and Raves. With Emily in the moderator’s chair; our host, Scott Van Voorhis of Contrarian Boston; Lylah Alphonse of The Boston Globe, and me. Our producer extraordinaire is Tonia Magras of Hull Bay Productions.
Extra! Extra! What would Andy think? Check out this special edition of “Beat the Press” in which Emily and her brother, Brian Rooney, talk about how their legendary father would be reacting to the meltdown of “60 Minutes.”
But the Rhode Island attorney general’s office has come up with a mind-boggling exception: if someone is arrested and not charged, then the police are under no obligation to make that information public. According to Boston Globe reporter Amanda Milkovits, 
