Boston Globe Takes Heat for Blowing ‘Whitey’ Bulger Informant’s Cover*

By: Richard Horgan | MediaBistro.com

For anyone who followed the unlikely capture of James “Whitey” Bulger in Santa Monica, Sunday’s front page Boston Globe feature article was a must-read, full of new details about the gangster’s life on the lam. However, many of the newspaper’s readers are questioning the decision by reporters Shelley Murphy and Maria Cramer to fully expose the person who tipped the FBI to the whereabouts of the fugitive and his female companion, Catherine Geiger, triggering the payout of a $2 million reward.

So far, only cross-town rival the Boston Herald has opted not to disclose the informant’s name in its reaction reports. Every other outlet–from national wire services to local outfits like NBC LA–has run with the name, further breaching the FBI’s guarantee of tipster confidentiality. Among the Globe reader comments: