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Outraged readers found Hands Off! coverage paper-thin [1]

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Date: 2025-04-07

Wouldn’t it have made a better — and more important — front-page story next to “Voters weigh in on Trump agenda” than a headline about a DOGE staffer ?

After attending the April 5 “Hands Off!” protest in Boston — huge, historic, and peaceful — I eagerly opened the paper on Sunday to read about it. But where was the coverage? Not on the front page where it belonged, but buried on Page A11 ( “Across US, protesters tee off against Trump and Musk: Hands Off! rallies draw thousands” ) and then on the front of the Metro section ( “Boston Hands Off! rally draws 30k” ). What a disappointment!

Cyrisse Jaffee

Newton

As protests grow, media are missing the moment

More than half a million people across the country signed up to attend the Hands Off! protests on Saturday, and organizers estimated that millions showed up. I have been checking to see how the events were covered in the media.

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While the Globe’s physical paper had an accurate headline in the Metro section, as of Monday afternoon the online version, which is what most people read, was still “Thousands march across New England to protest Trump administration, Elon Musk.” If one weren’t actually there, this would come off as nothing special rather than a protest that drew as many as 30,000 people, according to the police estimates that were reported in the story.

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The Globe is not alone in this weak framing, but the coverage is a missed opportunity. The growth of protests deserves more prominence because of what they represent at this point in history and what we are likely to see in the coming months.

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This is also a chance for the Globe to reach thousands of potential new readers, a great many of whom probably looked to social media to see their experience reflected, and show them the value of accuracy and balance that professional journalism offers.

Barbara Katzenberg

Lexington

They didn’t expect much. Sadly, they were unsurprised.

After spending more than four hours in the cold rain on Saturday attending Hands Off! in Boston with tens of thousands of others protesting the Trump regime, my husband and I joked about how it probably wouldn’t make the front page of the Sunday Globe. We were therefore unsurprised when coverage of the rally was relegated deep inside the paper.

Unfortunately, knowing that slight was coming did nothing to minimize our anger. The media, including the Globe, are failing us. The millions of people rising up across the country against fascism deserve front-page coverage, every day.

Do better. The eyes of history are watching you.

Kyla Bennett

North Easton

This was not ‘please turn to page 11’ news

I am disappointed with the Globe’s coverage of the massive Hands Off! protest rallies in Boston and across the United States. There were tens of thousands of concerned Americans marching in the streets of Boston, and a total of hundreds of thousands nationwide. I was expecting to see a big headline at the top of the Sunday Globe. Instead, what did I see? Roughly a square inch of text toward the bottom of the front page that directed me to turn to Pages B1 and A11 for details. Ho-hum.

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We are facing one of the biggest threats to our democracy in history. Americans are starting to stand up and take action against the idiocy of the morally bankrupt Trump administration. Mainstream media such as the Globe need to step up and be relevant.

I thoroughly agree with the idea of objective reporting of the news, and I believe the Globe accomplishes this better than most news outlets. But the paper needs to give stories such as this the importance they deserve. These protests across America should be front-page news, not “please turn to page 11” news. These are not ordinary times.

Nathan Aronow

Newton

Protester’s Canadian friend cheers him on from up north

I shared my enthusiasm over participating in Saturday’s Hands Off! march in Boston with my Canadian friend, David S. Goldbloom. His response, excerpted below, was as inspiring as the protest itself:

“I can only imagine how good it felt to raise your voice in protest and to be in a sea of like-minded people in one of the historic cradles of democracy in America. The pursuit of authoritarian rule, with Congress now an afterthought and the judiciary unable to exert its legitimate power even when it rules against Trump, is deeply disturbing. The intrusive control of universities, the overtaking of cultural institutions, the law firms that are capitulating in vain attempts at placating and preserving business interests, the disappearing on the streets of people whose crime is being ‘the other’ — we have seen this movie before. I’m not surprised that you chose to not remain silent and to join your fellow citizens in common cause on Boston Common — and we cheer you from north of the 49th parallel.”

John Bihldorff

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Canton

Fellow Americans, were you there? If not, why not?

By weaponizing fear and intimidation, Donald Trump has managed to subdue cowardly lawyers, universities, media outlets, both political parties, the judiciary, and corporations. Fellow Americans, where were you during the Hands Off! demonstrations on Saturday?

If you believe for even a moment that this will end with the conclusion of Trump’s term, you are gravely mistaken. He has no intention of relinquishing power. The pillars of our democracy are trembling. I’ll see you all at the next rally.

Jeff Saliba

Peabody

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[1] Url: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/07/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-hands-off-protest-coverage/

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