Who says nobody still reads Alex Beam? Soccer fans in Liverpool want Beam fired because in an otherwise forgettable column about how John Henry and friends now own the team, he called a soccer-stadium disaster in which 96 people died "a riot" - and described Liverpool as "grotty." As Tetteh Otuteye, a lifelong Liverpool fan now living in Boston writes:
The entire piece was not merely disrespectful and rude, but showed a shocking lack of journalistic integrity – repeating unsubstantiated claims, and not even suggesting that Mr. Beam made even a cursory effort at researching the tragedy and its aftermath. Clearly he made no such effort as such sincere reporting would have interfered with his scathing attack on Liverpool, the city, fans and club. His characterization of the City as "Grotty Liverpool - Worcester without the glitz" only further cemented his obvious ignorance and bias. Liverpool was designated by the European Union as the 2008 European Culture of Capital - hardly consistent with his foul portrayal of the city at all.
No word if anybody from Worcester has written the Globe to complain.
WGBH's "Beat the Press" discusses l'affaire Beam tonight at 7 p.m.
