I intend to continue covering the Patriots to the best of my abilities, and that means pursuing every storyline, good or bad. I have relationships to mend within the organization and with my readers. The process of regaining your trust will not be an easy one.
At the end of the day, I™m human, and humans make mistakes. Mine happened to be very significant and very public, and it™s something that will always be with me. – John Tomase, Boston Herald, May 16, 2008
Now that Tomase’s Bartman-esque status has been confirmed until, well, the Patriots go 19-0, the Phoenix’s Adam Reilly wonders if the reporter’s editors aren’t getting off rather easy.
I asked Herald editor Kevin Convey, who’s usually pretty forthcoming, if he could discuss that subject. “I’m going to take a rare pass,” Convey said. “The reason is, I kind of feel like we’ve said much more about what was done [pre-publication] than any newspaper has. It doesn’t do any good to us to go any further into our deliberations or anything else.”
Given the billing Tomase’s story got on today’s Herald front page, this reticence is disappointing. Remember, though, that any discussion of editorial oversight could pose legal risks for the paper, especially if that oversight was sorely lacking.
What’s more, the lack of backroom detail may also be smart management. Right now, public ire is focused on Tomase. A broader admission of culpability within the Herald newsroom (which could include sports editor Hank Hryniewicz and Convey himself) might make Tomase’s situation a bit more bearable. But it could also demoralize a bare-bones staff that must already be extremely dispirited.