Media celebrates Whitey Bulger arrest—because it was involved

The arrest of Whitey Bulger in Santa Monica, California on Thursday touched off a celebration for media outlets in Boston and elsewhere--in part, because the media had a hand in his capture.

The Boston Globe ripped up its front page when the news of Bulger's arrest broke late last night. The paper also created a dedicated section of its website chronicling the career of the 81-year-old Bulger, who had been one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted fugitives and had eluded capture for the past 16 years. And all of it, apparently, was done on the fly.

"We have not had a 'Whitey's caught' package ready to go for the 16 years he has been on the lam," Boston Globe editor Marty Baron told The Cutline.

The arrest came a day after the Globe ran a front-page cover story on a strategic shift in FBI's search for Bulger--a television ad campaign focused on Catherine Greig, Bulger's companion who fled with him in 2005--and years of special reports on the case by the paper.

"Globe reporters are already in the sky to L.A.," Billy Baker, a features editor for the Globe, wrote on his Twitter feed. "Newsroom is going on all cylinders. Historic morning to be a journalist in Boston."

Baker, who is currently staked with other local reporter outside of Whitey's brother Billy Bulger's house in South Boston, added: "Just got goosebumps looking at Globe and Herald front pages. Really didn't think this day would ever come."

Bulger's arrest came less than a week after the FBI created the 30-second spot—which ran on daytime television programs, including "Ellen," Live With Regis & Kelly" and "The View"—asking for the public's help in finding Greig.

"Recent publicity produced a tip that led agents to a residence in Santa Monica, California, where they located Bulger and Greig Wednesday evening," the FBI said in a statement.

"First Osama bin Laden, now Whitey Bulger," Ed Henry, soon-to-be Fox News chief White House corrspondent, wrote on Twitter. "If you're #7 or #8 on FBI's Most Wanted List right now you're SWEATING no?"

Bulger's capture also captivated journalists of a certain age--or those who saw "The Departed," the 2006 movie starring Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson, whose character was inspired by Bulger. (Henry tweeted what he predicts what Damon's reaction to Bulger's arrest will be: "How you like them apples?")

Celebrity chef and television star Anthony Bourdain tweeted that a trial, if there is one, "is going to be very embarrassing for a lot of people."

"My guess is Whitey cops to all 19. Trial avoided," Bourdain wrote. "My hope is a long, contentious proceeding with many revelations."

And, of course, the obligatory fake Bulger Twitter feed (@James_W_Bulger) is up and running.

"Apparently the question keeps coming up 'How does he look?'" the fake Bulger wrote of the cable news coverage of his capture. "That's a rhetorical question [because] obviously I look f***ing great."

"It appears that I won't be in court until later today," another Tweet reads, "which is nice because I'm still looking at pictures online from the Bruins parade."

(Bulger in a 1984 F.B.I. file photo: AP)