Weekly Dig Caters to a White Audience

After carefully reading the 9.13.06-9.20.06 edition of Boston's Weekly Dig, I am disappointed to discover that this, "hip, young, alternative news source" caters exclusively to a white audience. There are three features in the Dig that are most concerning to me; I will outline them below:

This edition of the Dig is focused on welcoming newcomers (primarily students) to Boston. They have 20 pages of articles in this section outlining the basics of Boston, as well as places to eat, go out, shop, live, etc. Chapter 3 of this section is called "The 'Hoods: What they are, where they are, and how to get killed in them" (pg 34). The author, Lissa Harris, breaks Boston down by neighborhood and outlines the pros and cons of each area, the cost of living, things to do and "how to get killed."

In Roxbury, Harris writes that the way to get killed is to, "Coach youth basketball. Live in the PJs. Hang out in the waiting room of Boston Medical Center. Be in Roxbury" (pg 36). I find this description, geared primarily to white, college students, to be appalling. Roxbury is a vibrant community where many of Boston's residents of color live. To write that living in the "PJs" (why she thinks it is okay for her to use this slang is also beyond me) and being in Roxbury are ways to get killed completely ignores the socio-economic struggles that many Roxbury residents face. Instead of providing an analysis of an extremely segregated city, Harris chooses to play into stereotypes of urban communities of color and writes them off as dangerous by nature. As a side note, the way to die in the Back Bay/Beacon Hill is to "trip over a stray Saks bag and impale yourself on a dowager" (pg 36).

This edition of the Dig also outlines the Democratic Gubernatorial Primary candidates. They rate candidates based on their stance on "Sodomy (gay rights), Stem Cells, Income tax cuts, the death penalty, the cape wind project, tuition, a T fare hike, economic development, the environment, legalizing casinos, and health care" (pgs 12, 13, 14). The concerns of communities of color and immigrants are completely ignored by this article. Although the immigrants’ rights struggle has been one of the hottest political issues this year, the Dig chooses not to address it in their analysis of gubernatorial candidates. To me, this implies that the Dig does not think its readers care about immigrant’s rights; that they don't expect immigrants, or their friends and families to be reading the paper.

Finally, the Dig has a weekly calendar of events. As always, these events are geared toward young, mostly white, indie rock folks. Ads are for bands that cater to white folks, featured artists are almost exclusively white with a white following.

If the Weekly Dig is the most widely read, hippest, progressive, alternative newspaper in Boston, and it caters exclusively to hip, progressive, alternative white folks, then where do their counter parts of color go to get their news?

Boston Globe Coverage of Healey"s "Soft on Crime" Attack on Patrick Misinforms Readers about CORI Again!

Boston Globe Coverage of Healey’s “Soft on Crime” Attack on Patrick Misinforms Readers about CORI Again!

The Sunday (9/24) front page Boston Globe story “Scrutiny of Criminals Heats up Race: Healey Presses Patrick on Background Checks” does readers a diservice by not providing accurate background information on the Criminal Offenders Record Information (CORI). This seems to be a pattern in the Boston Globe; I had the same complaint about the Boston Globe coverage of CORI Education Day in my posting dated Thursday May 4, 2006 on this blog. As I wrote then, the CORI was developed in the early ‘70’s to make criminal records available to police, prosecutors, probation officers, and judges. The current CORI laws contain regulations intended to protect the privacy and integrity of people with CORIs, including those with minor misdemeanors and cases where no conviction resulted. In the past 30 years and especially since 9/11 and the passage of the Patriot’s Act, this information has been made readily and widely available to potential employers, schools, landlords, etc. It has sometimes been misunderstood and misapplied. Currently 2.8 million people in Massachusetts have CORIs and 1.5 million new CORIs are produced per year affecting people of all races, ages, and backgrounds. Because their CORIs can be misunderstood or abused, many individuals are shut out of jobs, housing, entrance to college, loans, and other opportunities. Because our criminal justice system disproportionately affects men of color, misapplication of the CORI adds to the already high unemployment rate in communities of color and keeps many of those who have been accused of, or who have made and paid for mistakes in their past, from achieving the education, skills, and employment needed to change their lives.

Rather than providing an accurate history and background of the CORI legislation, the Globe lables all those with CORIs as “criminals try(ing) to re enter society…” This does not cover the variety of information contained in the CORI, including minor misdemeanors and no-convictions, nor how CORIs can be misunderstood and misapplied by potential employers, landlords, etc. The current controversy surrounding the CORI legislation is described in this story as “the fight to water down the CORI”. However, a careful reading of paragraphs 9-10 and 16-19 of the story idicates that the democratic candidate does not want to "water down" the CORI laws, but to make sure they are just and that they are fairly applied. The Globe should supply readers with accurate background and history of these controversial issues so voters can make their own informed and reasoned choices in the November election.

If you want to read the September 24, 2006 Boston Globe story “Scrutiny of Criminals Heats Up Race: Healey Presses Patrick on Background Checks,” visit the Boston Globe online (http://www.boston.com/news/globe) and register an account to view all their articles on the web.