Did The Herald Slam Conservatives Unfairly?
by Brian Maloney, February 7th, 2009 at 03:38am
That’s the contention of NewsBusters contributor Warner Todd Huston, who believes the Boston Herald’s Jessica Heslam wrongly used Howie Carr’s intervention incident with a suicidal caller to slam conservatives as mean-spirited.
How do you turn a hearwarming tale into just another excuse to call conservatives heartless, mean ol’ hatemongers? Just ask Jessica Heslam from the Boston Herald who, right in the first sentence of her story, decided it would be fun to take a slap shot at a conservative that helped save a woman’s life, this week.
Boston’s conservative radio host, Howie Carr, helped a women decide against committing suicide on his morning radio show on Thursday when she called in distraught about her dire economic situation. Appealing to her concern for her own family, Carr convinced the woman not to kill herself by telling her the story of his own grandfather’s suicide that Carr said his family never got over.
So, how did the Boston Herald’s Jessica Heslam turn this story into a slap at conservatives? Check out how she began her story:
Howie Carr does indeed have a heart.
The hardboiled WRKO radio host and Herald columnist tried to dissuade a female caller - distraught over the bleak economy - from killing herself, divulging that his own grandfather committed suicide during the Depression.
Carr “has a heart”? Should we expect he doesn’t just because he is a conservative talk show host? What sort of thing is that to say about a man that helped a women from killing herself? It certainly seems that the Herald just trivialized this woman’s life with such offhanded treatment of Carr, doesn’t it?
Sadly, the Boston Herald couldn’t even tell this simple tale of a life saved without taking a shot at conservatives.
Now, to you (for comments you should leave below): did Heslam take a shot at conservatives in general, or is Howie simply a hardass that occasionally reveals a soft side?
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13 Comments Add your own
1. Circlet Soft | February 7th, 2009 at 5:31 am
This is not a shot; Jess is Howie’s friend, and that is how Howie describes himself. This is not a good example of a MSM bias… besides, all publicity is good publicity — well, unless you are Tom Finneran and they keep pointing out that you are a convicted felon.
-CS
2. Brian Flaherty | February 7th, 2009 at 7:27 am
It’s a joke, they work together
3. Helen from Prides Crossing | February 7th, 2009 at 7:41 am
Huh?
4. ChrisNH | February 7th, 2009 at 8:11 am
I didn’t interpret the beginning of her story as ‘taking a shot’ at Carr. I also didn’t sense that she was taking a shot at conservatives, either. This whole thing can be summed up thusly: There is no ‘there’ there.
5. Practical Progressive | February 7th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Its the latter. I doubt that Huston has much knowledge of Carr’s reputation. He is perceived as a hardass by the left and right. That’s his whole persona. There’s very little warm and fuzzy there, except of course when he speaks fondly of Pearl and Tea.
This is another example of a conservative “watchdog” group trying to find even the slightest hint of media “bias” against them. Please. If these people really care about the promotion of conservative values, they should spend more time on, you know, actually coming up with ideas that appeal to the general public. Instead, so many of these great right-centered minds are consumed with showing that the big, bad mainstream media is out to get them.
You know, I’ll admit that there’s some truth to that, but it matters naught when you have little else to offer but a continued refrain of “stop picking on us!”
6. James Huberty | February 7th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Talk about a stretch! There are perfectly legit examples of conservatives geting smeared unfairly by the likes of Matthews or Olbermann…BUT NOT IN THIS PUFF PIECE!!!
Paranoia, the destroyer!
7. WRKO Staffer | February 7th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Brian…you’re stretching here. I like Howie and the guy was good with the suicidal caller but he also belittles people’s deaths all the time with that Ted Knight laugh. I’ve heard him talk about stories of people drowning or something like that and then there would be a Ted Knight laugh. If someone in my family died in some tragic way and then Howie mentioned and played that Ted Knight laugh, I’d probably punch Howie out.
8. piratetoby | February 7th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Because I think this “piece” is getting way more publicity than it deserves to begin with, I’ll keep my answers to the questions at the end brief.
First part of question, answer- no.
Second part of question, answer - no.
9. James Huberty | February 7th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Staffer brings up a good point about the Ted Knight laugh…yeah,Howie is hardly “Mr Compassion”when dealing with death-ala a death pool.MAYBE that’s where the “Howie does really have a heart” comment does factor in. It’s not a veiled shot at conservatives.
10. Bob | February 7th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Todd needs some remedial spelling lessons.
He made the same error twice when he referred to the suicidal woman as “women”. Huh?
And regarding Heslam’s “slap” at Howie? Lighten up, Todd. Apparently you haven’t been listening to Howie long enough.
11. Ad Man | February 7th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I’m sure Howie proofread the article. As Chris said, there’s no “there” there.
12. WRKO Staffer | February 8th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Alright Brian, time for a new topic, this story is “spent”.
13. Circlet Soft | February 8th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Staffer, amen to that, bruddah.
Time for me to go listen to old man Andelman now. You know, the self-proclaimed “godfather” of sports talk radio. Although there are lots of those… remember how he fleeced the Pats with that stadium thing, though?
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