The Old WHDH-TV Channel 5 equipment (was Re: The courtship of NBCby the Herald-Traveler)

[A. Joseph Ross]

On 22 Jun 2009 at 14:35, Doug Drown wrote:

> As I had said in a post some weeks ago regarding Boston newspapers, I
> recall that when I was a boy growing up in the '60s, my Republican
> elders usually purchased the Boston Herald and Traveler and Democrats
> favored the Globe. But I don't really know to what extent the H-T
> editors toed the Republican party line.  Were the Herald and Traveler
> really Republican newspapers, or were they independent?  What did they
> do that initially alienated the Kennedys?   -Doug
 
I believe the Globe at the time refused to endorse political 
candidates.  Some thought it was wishy-washy, but it advertised that 
the news pages were written by reporters who don't have an axe to 
grind, that they only took a stand on the editorial pages.  But it 
was generally considered a Democratic paper and close to the 
Kennedys.

The Herald generally favored Republican candidates, especially those 
of the Northeast liberal-moderate variety.  I seem to recall that 
they were a bit lukewarm towards Goldwater, but they did tend to 
support Republicans like Volpe, Richardson, Brooke, Saltenstall, etc. 
I remember one time when they admitted as much.

In 1966, Elliot Richardson, the sitting lieutenant governor, was 
running for attorney general against Frank Bellotti, who had been 
lieutenant governor in the previous Democratic administration.  The 
polls showed them running neck-and-neck.  At some point, fairly close 
to the election, Richardson made some ethics charges against 
Bellotti.  I'm not sure what the substance was, and I didn't really 
understand them at the time.  Richardson asked then-attorney-general 
Ed Brooke to investigate.  

The Herald, in a front-page editorial, repudiated Richardson, saying, 
"We usually support Repubican candidates, but ..."

Well, Richardson won narrowly, perhaps because of the charges.  The 
AG's investigation eventually exonerated Bellotti of any wrongdoing.

Which caused some embarrassment to Richardson, since the 
investigation wasn't done by the time he took office.  he announced a 
firewall of sorts to isolate him from the investigation, so that he 
wouldn't be seen to be investigating his own charges.

-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                           617.367.0468
 92 State Street, Suite 700                   Fax 617.507.7856
Boston, MA 02109-2004           	         http://www.attorneyross.com