THE HOST OF the Boston Globe’s television venture spoke passionately on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris on a fundraising call in late August, direct political advocacy that the Globe says was inappropriate even for the face of the newspaper’s quasi-journalistic product.
“Boston Globe Today” host Segun Oduolowu, formerly a correspondent on PEOPLE’s television show, urged attendees to vote, donate, and organize for Harris in the presidential race during an August 26 “African Diaspora for Harris Post-Convention Call.”
Over about 7 minutes, Oduolowu discussed the significance of his role as both a son of Nigerian immigrants and the host of a flagship product from a news organization.
“I am as chocolatey as they come, and I am the face of the Boston Globe,” he said. “I host a TV show – ‘Boston Globe Today’ – in a city that hasn’t always been friendly to people of my complexion, of our complexion, and that I get to light my own torch and have my name, my father’s name, on television every day. It means that not only am I living the American dream, but I live in the dream that someone else had for me, and I owe them an obligation.”
That obligation, he said, includes voting for and supporting candidates that reflect their demographics and their interests.
“November 5, when you go to those polls, make the right decision for not just you, but the people who fought so hard for you to have that opportunity, to be in a call like this, to be in this country, to make that choice and put this woman in office,” he said. Thanking the group for having him on, Oduolowu concluded, “I think the choice is simple.”
But the repercussions of his remarks are messy. The call was just two weeks before an internal email announced that the “Boston Globe Today” show would be moving under newsroom control – likely subjecting it to a typical set of journalistic ethics rules.
“Boston Globe Today,” a partnership between the Globe and New England Sports Network (NESN) that broadcasts on NESN five days a week, has for the last 17 months sat in murky journalistic territory. It’s a news program, with Globe reporters and columnists talking with Oduolowu about their stories, but it sits outside of the newsroom chain of command.
Oduolowu referred a request for comment to the Globe communications team.
“Boston Globe Media employees are expected to adhere to our company guidelines, standards, and policies which align with their role,” a Globe spokeswoman said in a statement. “In this case, the personal political comments made by an employee were their own and were not endorsed by or reflective of Boston Globe Media, nor were the comments shared via one of our products, platforms, or events.”
Even so, the spokeswoman said, the “personal political comments, which were not endorsed by or reflective of Boston Globe Media, were also not appropriate.” Beyond that, she said, the company does not comment on personnel matters.
The Globe’s guidelines, standards, and policies – like a newsroom ethics policy – are not posted publicly.
Change is on the way for the show, which will have a direct impact on its journalistic ethics standards.
In an email to all Boston Globe Media staff on September 10, editor Nancy Barnes wrote that “Boston Globe Today” will move under newsroom control.
The Globe will be creating a “multimedia division” in the newsroom, according to Barnes’ email. The division would be led by Tim Rasmussen, who oversees all visual journalism at the Globe, as well as other newsroom editors.
“In moving ‘Boston Globe Today’ under the auspices of the newsroom, we hope to leverage these skills and assets to maximize the reporting and storytelling, simultaneously producing (as often as possible) similar stories customized for multiple platforms: for TV, for vertical video explainers, for social, for audio, and often for streaming.”
CommonWealth Beacon reported last month that the Globe abruptly retooled its audio offerings – slashing plans for a new weekly podcast after making hires to host and produce it – in part because video and not audio is driving subscriptions.
The Fenway Sports Group, which the billionaire owner of the Boston Globe, John Henry, co-founded, holds the majority stake in NESN.
In a Boston Globe Media Partners staff meeting in August, Globe co-owner and CEO Linda Henry said “we have video journalism on our site every single day.” She said the company sees a correlation between expanded video formats and subscribers, which she said is the “North Star goal.”
The Boston Business Journal reported in November 2023 that Globe print weekday print circulation had fallen below 60,000 for the first time, while digital-only subscribers boomed to more than 245,000 by the Globe’s internal count.
In Barnes’ email, she said “Boston Globe Today” had drawn 50,000 views in the first full week of September, though the Globe spokeswoman did not clarify how those views were counted. The “Boston Globe Today” playlist on the Globe’s YouTube channel was last updated nine months ago, with “Boston Globe Today” videos posted to the main Globe YouTube channel irregularly.
“We have been excited about the growth in audience for ‘Boston Globe Today’ in the 17 months since it launched,” the spokeswoman said, adding that it continues to grow.
With that platform, as Oduolowu said, comes visibility and responsibility. He spoke warmly of the importance of certain foods and shared history, connecting that to his place as host.
“When I step in front of the camera and that red light goes on,” he said on the fundraising call, “I believe that it’s not just me who’s talking. I’m talking for the people that believed in me – all of those wonderful black angels that made it possible for me to be here. And so we have that obligation to carry on that message. That’s what Africa is. There’s an old African proverb: if you want to go somewhere fast, go alone. But if you want to go somewhere far, go together. All of us have come here together – not just on this call, but in this country – to make a better life for the people that look like us, talk like us, eat like us.”
Journalism as an industry has been embroiled in intense conversation about the definition and role of political neutrality for staff, managers, and owners of news organizations. The New York Times, for instance, has an extensive policy that includes rules about political activity.
“Our journalists may not make political donations, volunteer on campaigns, endorse efforts
to enact legislation, march in political rallies or demonstrations, have involvement in advocacy groups that take sides on issues we cover, sign ads taking a position on public issues, or lend their name in support of campaigns. They must also avoid editorializing on social media in
a way that might undercut our reputation for fairness,” the Times policy reads. Employees outside of the newsroom can participate in “lawful personal political activities outside of working hours,” as long as they neither involve company resources nor suggest “company participation or support.”
This aligns with recommendations from the ethics committee of the Society of Professional Journalists, which notes that “objectivity in today’s superheated political environment may be impossible, but impartiality should still be a reporter’s goal.” For political reporters, the SPJ notes, “almost no political activity is OK.”
The Globe’s policy is more opaque, referred to obliquely when a journalistic ethics issue arises. Globe columnist Kevin Cullen recently came under scrutiny for his decision to be a legal witness for a woman he profiled as she pursued doctor-assisted death in Vermont.
In an editor’s note, Barnes wrote “it is a violation of Globe standards for a reporter to insert themselves into a story they are covering. That it was intended primarily as a gesture of consideration and courtesy does not alter that it was out of bounds.”
Oduolowu is not a newsroom reporter, or even an opinion columnist, but a host of the shared NESN television program. “Boston Globe Today” is not yet a “newsroom” product, though that distinction can be extremely difficult to parse for the average person just opening the Globe’s website or flipping on the television.
Asked whether Oduolowu’s direct advocacy would be permitted when the show is relocated to the newsroom’s jurisdiction, the Globe spokeswoman said “no.”
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