Boston Globe Pulls Controversial Opinion Piece

A media dish continues to simmer this week over an online opinion piece in the Boston Globe that was posted last week, and then taken down.

In the piece, Luke O'Neil writes that he wished he had urinated on the salmon he was serving one evening to conservative political analyst Bill Kristol, calling it one of his biggest regrets in life. He was referring to his days as a waiter in Cambridge more than a decade ago.

Within a day — as backlash mounted — the Globe edited the piece, first to make the language a little more palatable. Then, the article caught the attention of the owners of the Boston Globe, Linda and John Henry, who condemned its publication, and the piece was removed.

The Globe then published a note to readers explaining why the column was removed, stating it "did not receive sufficient editorial oversight and did not meet Globe standards." The Globe also said it "regrets its lack of vigilance on the matter," and noted that O'Neil is not a member of its staff.

The piece can be found through a web archive.

Luke O'Neil, freelance journalist and author of "Welcome To Hellworld." He tweets @lukeoneil47.

John Carroll, WBUR senior news analyst and blogger at It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town. He tweets @john_r_carroll.