We will watch with interest ABC's "Boston 24/7" which premiered Tuesday night. The six day series profiles Mayor Tom Menino, his inner circle at City Hall, and a number of public servants. It promises to be an engaging look at the people who work hard day-in and day-out on our behalf.

It's not fair to judge the series based on one program, but one thing is clear from Tuesday's program: ABC made a serious error in judgment by telecasting graphic images of the murder of one of our neighbors, Jorge Fidalgo.

ABC cameras captured horrifying images of the Cape Verdean community leader slumped in his car off Dudley Street, dying from bullet wounds. It showed him being hauled into an ambulance and later, doctors laboring without success to save his life.

These images should not have been shown. Fidalgo's senseless murder was a tragedy for Dorchester and Roxbury- and indeed all of Boston. It could have been depicted in a more sensitive way. Instead "reality TV" won out over common decency. That's too bad.

We hope ABC at least had the courtesy to warn Jorge's many family and friends that this was coming. The pictures rivaled the CBS News images last month of the murder of hostage Daniel Pearl. Has common decency vanished among network TV producers?

It was a sad evening in many homes around here. Here's hoping that it is never repeated on our local stations.

- Ed Forry

The dispute between Lower Mills residents and developer Louis Hadaya sends a menacing message.

The developer responded to zoning challenges to his planned three story office building by filing a civil suit against one neighbor and the head of the local civic group, seeking damages of $30,000 from each man. That court action has been pending for more than six months and the two citizens were forced to retain their own legal counsel. To date, they say legal expenses have exceeded $25,000- and the case has not yet come to trial.

While the deep-pocketed developer presumably can claim his legal bills as a cost of doing business, the two private citizens must turn to their own resources for their attorney fees. For them, it could lead to financial ruin.

It is an age-old battle: there is always a tension between a business' desire for profits and residents' hope to preserve peace and quite around their homes.

But this Lower Mills story took on a new and pernicious tone when the developer slapped a civil lawsuit on the two residents. Louis Hadaya's legal action can only be seen as an unwelcome intimidation tactic, and certainly not the action of a businessman who seeks to become a good and welcome neighbor.

One politician calls the case "the most important issue across the city." Residents intimidated from voicing concerns has a chilling effect on civic and political discourse all across the city. It is a terrible precedent.

Already there are anecdotal reports of civic leaders stifling their public advocacy roles, in the fear that business interests will sue them to achieve their ends. Volunteer civic advocates sacrifice family time in the interest of community affairs. Who can afford to face the emotional strains and financial burdens of civil lawsuits?

The Lower Mills lawsuit is being watched all across Boston, and is likely to become the new way for doing business. Developers have now learned they need not conform to community standards or seek neighborhood support for their projects. Now, they know they have the means to just bully their way to get what they want.

-E.F.