Why is it so hard? Mark Wahlberg is not from Southie. He’s from Dot. Dorchester is not Southie. South Boston is not Dorchester – well, it was part of Dorchester a long, long, time ago – like 200 years ago. So why does the media/press have such a hard time understanding that Mark Wahlberg is from Dorchester?
In the Boston Globe today – yes, the BOSTON Globe, it was reported that Wahlburgers would be expanding the burger chain to include London. The article opened with the follow:
“Acclaimed actor, Southie native, and former bad-boy rapper Mark Wahlberg founded Wahlburgers restaurant in 2011…..”
Granted the writer is a correspondent so maybe she’s not from Boston and doesn’t know the difference but there should be an editor fact checking, right?
This is not the first time this mistake has happened. Most recently it happened on the Today Show with Willie Geist. About a year ago, a newspaper from Palo Alto wrote the headline “Eat like a Southie”in reference to Wahlburgers, which is also wrong on a whole other level.
So does it really matter if a reporter mixes up two different neighborhoods in Boston? It does to the people who live or grew up there.
Maureen Dahill is the editor of Caught in Southie and a lifelong resident of South Boston sometimes mistaken for a yuppie. Co-host of Caught Up, storyteller, lover of red wine and binge watching TV series. Mrs. Peter G. Follow her @MaureenCaught.