Published July 16, 2010
WBUR’s managing editor, Dave Shaw, goes on the radio from time to time to talk about what stories are getting people jazzed on wbur.org. Here is his latest roundup of the week’s big stories. –AP
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The hubbub this week was over David Boeri’s story about proposed protections for the endangered piping plover on a barrier beach in Plymouth. The conversation got heated — fast. On one hand, there are folks who want to drive onto the beach to enjoy it. In the other hand, there are people who say the beach should be off-limits to cars order to protect the birds.
[pullquote author=”bobas77″]”The birds are thriving, we are complying with the restrictions and this talk of permanent closure is INSANE.”[/pullquote]
“The birds are thriving, we are complying with the restrictions and this talk of permanent closure is INSANE,” wrote a commenter with the handle bobas77.
But bobas77 was outnumbered by commenters such as Richer Earth, who said the beach is best enjoyed “without the use of an internal combustion engine.”
The back and forth turned personal — violating our Community Discussion Rules — and the comment thread was shut down. That’s pretty rare. Andrew, who considers himself the “mean old dad” of enforcing our rules, says that only happens about four times a year.
[pullquote author=”Richer Earth”]”The beach can be enjoyed without the use of an internal combustion engine.”[/pullquote]
In contrast, listeners behaved themselves in response to a report from WBUR’S Fred Thys about a proposal to merge the Cohasset and Hull school districts to save money. The Cohasset School Committee said no, and many Cohasset residents agreed with that decision.
We caught some flak from listeners for quoting a just-graduated Cohasset High School student who said (and I’m paraphrasing) he and his classmates wouldn’t want Hull students in their school, because differences in income would create problems.
Commenter Margot Isabelle argues that quotation — and our story overall — were not representative of the Cohasset community as she knows it. Dave Clinton, of Hull, also objected, calling the students, parents, and community members he knows in Cohasset “wonderful friends.”
Finally, we got some good feedback on a story by Bianca Vazquez Toness about a move underway for a truth and reconciliation commission to examine Boston’s busing crisis of 1974.
Someone who posted under the name J G McL said if done right, it “could be a watershed moment in race relations in the city.”
[pullquote author=”Joanne Pearlman”]”Not talking about the skeletons in the closet, or the elephant in the living room, hasn’t ever helped anyone other than the perpetrators.”[/pullquote]
And commenter Joanne Pearlman answered the criticism of the commission that Boston would be better off dealing with present-day problems than focusing on the past. She wrote:
“Not talking about the skeletons in the closet, or the elephant in the living room, hasn’t ever helped anyone other than the perpetrators.”
I spoke with her on the phone, and she expanded on her thoughts, telling me:
“It’s that kind of attitude that lets the facts be hidden and the people who have a voice to color the history. It sort of widens the divide.”
We love our commenters — thanks to all of them.