Letter to Joan Vennochi

Interesting article Joan, thanks for writing it. However, I believe the Globe and the other major news sources need to look in the mirror. I just ran a campaign for city council at large filled with passion and honesty about what the problems of the city truly are, and who the people responsible are. Ask your City Hall reporters during this time: Madison Park, Andrea Estes, Lisa Wangsness. We had many good conversations about what the real news in the city was and is.

What has the Globe written about? The Globe took a page and half on a Sunday to write about me and never once mentioned my three issues of education, housing and equal access to government. The Globe twice wrote articles about the money I put into my campaign, but didn't cover the Open Meeting Lawsuit hearing at Suffolk Superior Court where the City Council's lawyer argued that the City Council was irrelevant in regards to the BRA and planning and development in the City. The Globe didn't write anything about the $4million dollar land giveaway in the Fenway to the Forsyth Institute, and how they will be allowed to circumvent the zoning laws.

Everyone on the Inside in the city reads my blog, from the Mayor to the councilors, to State Reps, and State Senators. Every political reporter in the city reads my blog to find out what is going on. Lisa told me they were "thinking about" writing a story about it. Don't you think the citizens might be interested in knowing about what every politician in the City has in common? People from State Rep Wallace to Senator Tolman thanked me for what I was doing. It is a sad state of affairs when telling the truth and doing investigative journalism is not seen as a viable option in politics.

BUT, you did run two pictures of me with my baton and wrote two articles about my baton twirling prowess. I'm sure the voters are much more informed now. 15 years ago I used to spend 3 or 4 hours on a Sunday morning reading the Globe cover to cover. Now I read it and am done in less than an hour. I haven't learned to read faster. I believe that people do want information, and intelligent information. We live in an information society and those who can use and process that information will be the winners. I think the reason for newspapers loss of readership, revenue, etc. is because they are dumbing themselves down.

We look to the fourth estate to be an opinion leader, to give us the real news. At least the Herald had a column about the candidates with their pro's and cons and then endorsed four. The Globe didn't even mention any by name on their editorial page, and just lamely told people to vote. Why would people vote if you haven't told them who the candidates are and where they stand??? Where are the people supposed to get the information to know how to vote.

Finally, about the debates. Are the news sources in this city so afraid of the Mayor that they won't sponsor a debate on their own? Sign up for the auditorium at the Boston Public Library (it's free) and have a debate on housing and education and invite the two candidates. If one doesn't show then report about it and give the other all the time. It is easy to sit on the sidelines and comment about stuff, please consider being a leader and sponsoring the debate. An open discourse about the visions for the future is good for us all. You will truly be doing a service to the community then.

Thank you,
Kevin McCrea
Former candidate for city council at large