Word: spotlight
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...first, the report in The Boston Globe that Vellucci took an unauthorized leave of absence from his state tax department job appeared to deal a serious blow to his chances of winning a 12th consecutive term on the City Council. The Globe's "Spotlight Team" of reporters trailed Vellucci for a day and reported he was actually showing visitors around Cambridge, although he previously said he would be in Everett on state business. The report prompted Vellucci to resign the job with what appeared a weak protestation of innocence. A departmental investigation followed, resulting last week in the five...
...quickly as possible. They contend that the supervisor did not deserve a suspension but the reprimand was an easy way to avert a long investigation. Two weeks ago The Real Paper--like Vellucci, a staunch advocate of rent control--lashed out at the Globe report as "sleazy journalism." The "Spotlight Team," it noted, trailed Vellucci for only one day and failed to report that he legitimately signed out for the day before returning to Cambridge. The Real Paper discounted the Globe report as an easy wedge for the city's big real estate interests to hammer into chinks...
Vellucci, however, is more than open on this point. The day after the Globe story ran, he showed reporters from The Herald-American the time sheets for the day in question. According to the records, Vellucci had legally signed out that day at 10 a.m.--long before the "Spotlight Team" placed him in Cambridge. Moreover, Vellucci claims he never received any money for the numerous leaves of absence he has taken in the past. Records show he collected less than $12,000 from the state last year and "This year it won't amount to $5000." he said...
Richard Kindleberger, a member of the "Spotlight Team," insists that the Globe story accurately represented Vellucci's activities. He maintains Vellucci told the reporters he would be in Everett the entire day, although Vellucci says he went out for only a short time and finished his state business before signing out. More important, he insists Vellucci let them know he would be working the entire day and signed out only after he realized the reporters might be checking on him. "It could be that later he decided, 'Well, I'd better cover my ass,' so he signed...
...justify the New York Times, which, having been slow out of the starting gate on Watergate, gave the front-page spotlight to Lance even on days when there was no story about him that deserved such treatment. There is a difference between pursuing the facts and going after a man. The end also did not ennoble William Safire, the Nixon speechwriter turned columnist who seeks to establish-with the repetitious use of labels like Lancegate -that all politicians are as shabby as Nixon. Cheap-shot comparisons are an old and dubious journalistic device: as if two people who share...