Well, it appears that I owe the Boston Globe an apology. I am man enough to know when I'm mistaken, so I am taking the time right now to set the record straight. Yesterday, I posted an opinion piece that accused the Globe of allowing their bias to make its way into the news instead of just publishing facts. It seems that there is more to the story than what meets the eye.
This past Sunday, the Boston Globe printed a spoof "front page" to their paper that editorialized what would happen under a Donald Trump presidency. I found it greatly disturbing that a renowned newspaper would stoop to telling you who to vote for (or rather who NOT to vote for) on the front page of their publication. In my view, there is a clear, distinct line between reporting the news and giving and editorial position. This "cover" has no place in the news section of the paper.
This morning I was notified by a friend that the supposed front cover of the Boston Globe wasn't actually the front page of the paper. At first I thought it was perhaps one of those wraps paid for by advertisers. Again, I was mistaken. The spoof front cover that demonized Donald Trump was actually the front page to the OPINION page. While I still feel that spoof doesn't belong on a front page, the fact that it's a part of the "Opinion" section makes it easier to take. It is at least in the correct section.
I have to tell you, though, that it took a long time to find a news outlet that actually reported the Boston Globe cover was from the Opinion section. Over thirty links later, I finally found one report that correctly pointed out the placement of the Donald Trump piece. The first thirty repeatedly reported that the spoof was the actual front page of the Boston Globe. This gets to the very essence of what I was trying to say in yesterday's column.
The fact that it took so long to find what actually happened with the Donald Trump spoof cover is further proof of all that is wrong in the media today. It seems that people are more intent on hearing what they want to hear rather than the truth. It is dereliction of duty for so many journalists to omit one of the most basic facts of the total story. This is another case of editorializing in the middle of the news story. The fact that even major outlets contained this omission is very deeply troubling.
We as the American should demand the news to be reported in all its dirty splendor. Even if it's something we don't agree with, we should still have the ability to hear the whole story. It just goes to show that everything you believe on the internet shouldn't be construed as true. This is especially true when encountering memes on Facebook, but that's a column for another time.
So, I apologize to the Boston Globe for being misinformed in this instance. I believe the Globe should use this moment to lead the charge in bringing news back to where it should be -- complete and without bias. And shame on all of those news outlets that misreported what this "front page" really was.
Craig Bacon is mature enough to know when he's wrong, and isn't afraid to admit.
