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Murdoch mishegoss

The new brand of gonzo journalism
Never mind that Rupert Murdoch is shelling out better than $2 billion to buy Metromedia’s seven TV stations. Never mind that he’s then turning around and reselling Boston’s WCVB-TV, Channel 5 to the Hearst Corporation for an astounding $450 million.
By DAVE O'BRIAN | May 06, 2010

Midnight ramblers

Rock legend Peter Wolf serves dinner and verse to the Phoenix ’s poet .
In rock ’n’ roll, it was possible to live in Harvard Square, be a musician — a local musician — and be able to pay your rent and find restaurants where you could eat and buy food and survive, and feel that there was a sense of . . . future, with hope and opportunity.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | April 08, 2010

Through a glass darkly

Forecasting the media year to come
Predicting a Super Bowl winner doesn't make you a genius: after all, given a pool of 32 teams, one of them is bound to capture the trophy. But predicting the future for an industry that's been buffeted by new technologies and economic vicissitudes, and sometimes seems to have all the substance and staying power of sea foam? That's an accomplishment.
By ADAM REILLY | January 08, 2010

Sound words

Letters to the Boston editor, November 13, 2009
I appreciate the positive review Jeffrey Gantz gave to Bad Boy Made Good , the documentary film I produced, which was shown this week at the MFA.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | November 11, 2009

Plain talk

Jesse Sheidlower gives the f-word its due
Jesse Sheidlower, an editor-at-large of the Oxford English Dictionary , an expert in slang, and the author of The F-Word , can't stop talking about fuck.
By JUSTINE ELIAS | September 15, 2009

Blowhard, interrupted

If Curt Schilling runs for Senate, will he keep his sports-media perch?
Former Red Sox great Curt Schilling isn't the only prospective US Senate candidate agonizing over whether to run for Ted Kennedy's old seat. But unlike some of his potential rivals the Bloody Socked One seems determined to share his Hamlet act with the biggest possible audience.
By ADAM REILLY | September 11, 2009

Talking points

Press Releases
Rich Connor's reforms have brought a much-needed sharpened focus to the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram and its sister papers. Certain changes, though, are raising eyebrows not just for what they are, but because of how Connor is doing them.
By JEFF INGLIS | August 26, 2009

Play by Play: June 5, 2009

Plays A to Z
Boston's theater schedule
By JEFFREY GANTZ | June 02, 2009

Play by play: May 29, 2009

Plays from A to Z
Boston's theater schedule
By JEFFREY GANTZ | May 27, 2009

Play by Play: May 22, 2009

Plays from A to Z
Boston's theater schedule
By JEFFREY GANTZ | May 19, 2009

Play by Play, May 15, 2009

Plays for A to Z
Theater in town
By JEFFREY GANTZ | May 12, 2009

Sensations

Reviews of Spring Awakening at the Colonial; Jerry Springer: The Opera at SpeakEasy
Unlike its predecessor, the over-hyped Rent , Spring Awakening is the genuine item: a Tony-winning amalgam of theater and pop music that smells like teen fusion.
By CAROLYN CLAY | May 06, 2009

Fair is foul

What's the fuss over the Fairness Doctrine really about?
These are scary times for far-right conservatives.
By ADAM REILLY | November 17, 2008

Does not compute

Will our next president be a geek hero or a guy who doesn’t e-mail?
Though he’s infamous for his aversion to computers, McCain is actually no Luddite.
By MIKE MILIARD | October 30, 2008

Smoke screens

Does a surge of stoner movies mean America is going to pot?
What does it say about America that marijuana movies are a hot genre right now, perhaps hotter even than in the heyday of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong’s 1978 Up in Smoke ?
By PETER KEOUGH | August 18, 2008

The week in boners

Ross exposed, FCC hosed, hicks opposed
With his new album expected to hit #1 on the Billboard charts this week, I think (Nasty) Nas is getting a bit swell-headed.
By DAVID THORPE | July 28, 2008

TV on the radio

Press releases
Folks from WGME Channel 13 (the Sinclair-owned CBS affiliate in town) will be doing both live and recorded segments for WGAN.
By JEFF INGLIS | June 04, 2008

The Gray Lady, the FCC, and indecency

Freedom watch
Phoenix readers must think I’m obsessed with four-letter locker-room words, but I’m really not.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | March 26, 2008

The briefly indecent Boston Globe

Freedom watch
It was startling to see the Boston Globe ’s online edition publish a Reuters wire-service article on Monday, March 17, containing the words “fuck” and “shit.”
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | March 19, 2008

Newspapers censor Bono’s ‘fucking’ gaffe

The FCC’s ‘broadcast indecency’ rules: Still, well, bullshit
Why does our ostensibly “free” press insist on acting like prudes or cowards when reporting stories for which it’s vital that readers learn someone said “fuck” rather than an undefined “expletive”?
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | March 12, 2008

See no evil

What’s on the videotape Dan Conley won’t make public? Plus, winners in the Times ’ McCain mess.
An intriguing battle pitting government against the press is currently percolating on the North Shore and here in Boston.
By ADAM REILLY | February 27, 2008