Boston Phoenix media critic and award-winning writer Dan Kennedy will be on campus tomorrow to speak about the media and read from his new book, “Little People: Learning to See the World Through My Daughter’s Eyes.”
Kennedy will speak about the state of the media and his recently published memoir. From 1 to 2:15 p.m. in 227 Herter Hall, Kennedy will give his views on where the state of the media is heading.
The second part of Kennedy’s visit, held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Campus Center 904-908 will consist of a reading from his recently published memoir about raising his daughter.
As a writer for the Boston Phoenix, Kennedy is well known for his outspoken, no-holds-barred criticism of both the Boston and national press. Some of his recent columns have covered issues ranging from the war in Iraq to the ousting of former UMass president William Bulger, and it was with the help of Kennedy’s research that the Boston Globe fired Mike Barnicle in 1998.
“Dan is an equal opportunity critic – he goes after the left and the right, which makes him unusual but makes him well worth listening to,” journalism professor B.J. Roche said. “It’s really a very interesting time for journalism.
“Right now, with issues related to the Iraq war, the issue around the Fox News Network and whether or not it has bias in it’s reporting; we thought it would be interesting to talk about this right now. Dan Kennedy is one of the best people in the country on the topic of where the media is heading,” she continued.
According to an interview he did with Mediaman.com, Kennedy said that his book “is about the culture of dwarfism.”
“It’s partly a memoir – our 10-year-old daughter, Rebecca, is an achondroplastic dwarf – partly journalism, partly historical research and partly cultural criticism,” he said.
Rodale, the publisher of Kennedy’s book, says the book is about Kennedy’s daughter and “about Dan’s search for meaning in his daughter’s difference.”
“This book is very interesting,” Roche said. “It’s a subject you don’t think about and that isn’t talked about.”
Kennedy started at the Boston Phoenix in 1991, and is now the senior writer and the media critic. He got his start at the Daily Times Chronicle in Woburn in 1979 after graduating with a degree in journalism from Northeastern University.
While at the Chronicle, Kennedy received his master’s degree in history from Boston University in 1988. From 1989 to 1990, Kennedy was the editor and publisher of the MetroNorth Magazine, a news and lifestyle publication.
Kennedy is seen and heard around the Boston area on various media analysis shows such as “Beat the Press” on WGBH-TV and “The Pat Whitley Show” on WRKO 680 AM. His writing is not limited to the Phoenix, and articles by Kennedy can be found in The New Republic, Slate and Salon, among others.
Both events are open to the public, and are sponsored by the journalism department.
