Boston Globe To Investigate Its Star Columnist’s Boston Marathon Claims
By Evan Lips | April 20, 2018, 18:30 EDT
Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen. BOSTON — The ongoing feud between the Boston Globe and sports talk radio giant WEEI reached new highs this week after morning show host Kirk Minihane and producer Chris Curtis began questioning the Boston Marathon bombing-related reporting and claims of longtime Globe columnist Kevin Cullen.
Apparently spurred by a wildly emotional Saturday column in which Cullen marked the fifth anniversary of the marathon bombing, Minihane along with co-host Gerry Callahan spent parts of their last few shows poking holes in some of the dramatic anecdotes authored by Cullen, including his claim of being at the finish line minutes after the two bombs exploded when in reality he admittedly did not reach the scene until hours later.
Wrote Cullen:
“I can smell Patriots Day, 2013. I can hear it. God, can I hear it, whenever multiple fire engines or ambulances are racing to a scene.”
Cullen, however, was at his desk inside the Boston Globe newsroom at the time of the explosions, according to Minihane.
In his column posted two days after the 2013 bombing, Cullen claimed he “saw an older runner wearing high rise pink socks, about to cross the finish line … he was knocked to the ground by a photographer running up Boylston Street toward the second explosion.”
It was Thursday when Minihane confirmed that Cullen was not at the scene when the bombs went off. When asked to elaborate, Cullen did not comment. On Friday WBZ anchor Kevin Wade confirmed that the Globe is now investigating Cullen’s work.
Here's the full Globe statement on Cullen: "We take seriously any credible assertion about the integrity of our journalism. We are conducting a review, and if the record needs to be corrected in any way, we will do so forthrightly.
— David Wade (@davidwade) April 20, 2018
The 2013 column written by Cullen, in which he places himself at the scene of the bombings, differs from what he told the BBC during a subsequent interview. Minihane cited the BBC interview, in which Cullen says he was “one mile away” from the Boylston Street finish line.
Minihane said Cullen later admitted he did not reach the scene of the blasts until hours later.
The current saga marks the latest instance in which Minihane and the radio station have called out the newspaper. In December, Minihane named former Globe State House reporter Jim O’Sullivan, after the newspaper apparently dismissed O’Sullivan for allegedly engaging in a pattern of sexual harassment. The situation involving O’Sullivan had been kept under wraps before Minihane went on air to discuss the matter. Coincidentally, hours after Minihane dropped O’Sullivan’s name, the Globe published a story naming O’Sullivan but withholding the identities of other former Globe employees who were allegedly guilty of similar transgressions.
The toxic relationship between the radio station and the newspaper reached another level in February when Globe business columnist Shirley Leung roasted WEEI, calling on advertisers to cut ties after an afternoon host used a faux Asian accent to mimic New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s agent, Don Yee.
During an appearance on Boston Public Radio, even Attorney General Maura Healey piled on the radio station.
This week’s episode between WEEI and the Globe has seen Minihane claim to have reached out to the newspaper’s editors, only to be dismissed:
Spoke to Mark Morrow — Senior Deputy editor of the Globe – and asked about Kevin Cullen. Told me he had “no idea” what I was talking about.
— Kirk Minihane (@kirkmin) April 19, 2018
Minihane later unearthed a tweet made by Cullen in which the columnist criticized Fox News personality Sean Hannity’s truthfulness:
As for his social media activity, Cullen has so far been silent on the matter concerning himself.
In his bio section appearing on the Globe web site, Cullen writes that he was “part of the team awarded the Pulitzer for breaking news for coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings.”
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