It takes a big story to land on the front page Boston’s major newspapers. It also takes a lot to dominate the airways as the top news story of the hour, day or week . In 2006 three events accomplished that feat because they were surprising, unexpected and even groundbreaking. The stories seemed unconnected but on further examination all bore one distinctive mark. Each event gave an opportunity for an expression of the voice of the people. In Boston in 2006 they also share the common distinction of being among the top news events of the year.
1.The Sky, No the Tunnel, is Falling In Boston, the Big Dig has been at different times a reason for citywide rejoicing, frustration and even amusement. The Big Dig is the nickname of a major highway project in Boston that has gone on seemingly for ever, at unbelievable public expense, in the name of better transport through the city. In Boston, the Big Dig has been, at different times, a reason for citywide rejoicing, frustration and even amusement. The Big Dig has been going on for so long in Boston that its various ebbs and flows now seem to come and go with little or no public notice. Until the summer of 2006.
On July 11,2006 Milena Delvalle of Jamaica Plain, MA was traveling with her husband on the way to Boston’s Logan Airport when 12 tons of concrete tile from the ceiling of the entrance to the Ted Williams tunnel, completed as part of the Big Dig, landed on the roof of the car killing the driver and forever altering the life of her husband. When news of the tragedy appeared in the papers and on television and radio it was as if all the animosity towards the Big Dig that had been growing over years , exploded across the city and the state. An innocent life had been senselessly lost because tiles were installed incorrectly or were never inspected or both. While the family of the deceased responded with quiet reserve to the sympathy expressed by the government, the public outcry at government negligence, ineptitude and corruption bubbled over everywhere. Whatever was happening elsewhere on that day would have to wait while Boston mourned not only the loss of life, but the human indifference that had allowed such an accident to occur .
2.From Victory to History As the field narrowed in the Massachusetts Gubernatorial election of 2006, Republican Party nominee Kerry Healy noted during a debate that , regardless of who won in 2006, history would be made. Lieutenant Governor Healy lost her bid for the governor’s seat but her prediction was 100% correct. On Nov. 7, 2006 the Massachusetts electorate came out in droves and the result became a major news story in Boston and throughout the Commonwealth and it made history .
Deval Patrick, a politically untried , former Clinton Appointee to the Civil Rights branch of the Justice Department, found himself on the winning side of a very lopsided election. His slogan “together we can” had resonated with the voters. His coolness under fire, courtesy towards other candidates and openness to new ideas had struck a responsive chord across age, gender and even party divides. His grassroots campaign got out the message and then got out the vote.
Even though Massachusetts is a liberal state and even though it’s legislature has been dominated by the Democratic Party for decades, the governor’s chair has often been a prize which has eluded Democrats. The 2006 election of Deval Patrick as a Democrat and as a man of African American ancestry was one of the top news stories in Boston in 2006 and as Kerry Healy predicted made history.
3. A Failure to Act A third top news story in Boston,MA during 2006 appears in the form of a non-story. Since 2004, it has been legal for Massachusetts citizens to participate in same sex marriages. Since that time, those opposing same sex marriages have struggled to use the constitutional amendment process to redefine marriage and to definitively end gay marriages in Massachusetts.
To put the issue of same sex marriage on the 2008 state ballot would require legislators to take a preliminary vote on the issue. Supporters on both sides of the issue worked feverishly to influence the results of the legislative vote in the Massachusetts General Court. The press was poised to report the results knowing that the vote was important in Massachusetts but was also being watched nationally.
The the news broke. The legislature shockingly determined to end its 2006 session without ever taking a vote on this volatile and divisive issue. Those in favor of same sex marriage were pleased by legislative inaction as it left same sex marriage in place and legal in Massachusetts. Those who hope to eliminate gay marriage were enraged that voters were being denied the chance to vote on gay marriage because of legislative inaction. Meanwhile reporters were scrambling to report one of the top stories of 2006 in Boston which, as it turned out, was also one of the biggest non stories of 2006.
News stories are shaped by events and by public interest in those events. During 2006 what interested the public and formed the basis of three top news stories were the Big Dig, the race for Governor and same sex marriage.
