Globe coverage soft on board member Kilts

Boston Herald business columnist Brett Arends wonders whether competitor Boston Globe went soft on James Kilts’ compensation because he’s now on the board of parent company The New York Times Co.

Arends notes that it was the Globe that went as far as to hire a compensation consultant to assess Kilts’ pay when he was head of local company Gillette. However, this time around, the Globe didn’t include his stock options in totalling his compensation package, and the story didn’t include a byline — all factors that made Arends suspicious.

Arends wrote, “Procter & Gamble documents put the figure at $19.1 million.

“That’s the figure Bloomberg News reported. But then, Jim Kilts does not sit on the board of Bloomberg.

“The Globe figure magically ignored Kilts’ $15.7 million in fresh stock options.

“That’s like trying to judge Big Papi’s season and leaving out the home runs.

“It wasn’t an oversight. The Globe saw the options package . . . and buried it.

“Halfway down the story, and well padded.

“No mention in the headline. No mention in the lead.

“This is the paper that once hired an outside consultant to value Kilts’ full compensation, options and all.

“But then, that was before he joined the parent company’s board.

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