The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe.svg
BG22808.jpeg

The April 4, 2009 front page
of The Boston Globe
Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner The New York Times Company
Publisher Christopher M. Mayer
Editor Martin Baron
Founded 1872
Headquarters 135 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Circulation 232,432 Daily
378,949 Sunday[1]
ISSN 0743-1791
Official website boston.com

The Boston Globe (and Boston Sunday Globe) is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993. Its chief print rival is the Boston Herald.[2]

In 2009–2010 the Globe's average weekday circulation fell to 232,432, down from 302,638, or 23.2%. Sunday circulation fell 18.8% to 378,949.[1]

The Globe has won eighteen Pulitzer Prizes.

Contents

History

The old Globe headquarters on Washington Street (Part of the Boston Advertiser 's Building can be seen just to the right)

The Globe was founded in 1872 by six Boston businessmen, led by Eben Jordan, who jointly invested $150,000. The first issue was published on March 4, 1872 and cost four cents. Originally a morning daily, it began Sunday publication in 1877. In 1878, The Globe started an afternoon edition called The Boston Evening Globe, which ceased publication in 1979.

The Globe was a private company until 1973 when it went public under the name Affiliated Publications. It continued to be managed by the descendants of Charles H. Taylor.

In 1993, The New York Times Company purchased Affiliated Publications for US$1.1 billion, making The Globe a wholly owned subsidiary of The New York Times' parent.[3] The Jordan and Taylor families received substantial Times Company stock, but the last Taylor family members left management in 2000-2001.

Boston.com the online edition of Boston Globe was launched in 1995.[4] Consistently ranked among the Top 10 newspaper websites in America,[5] it has won numerous national awards and took two regional Emmys in 2009 for its video work.[6] On August 6, 2009, several media outlets in Boston reported that in the future, Boston.com might start charging for its services.[7]

In 1998, columnist Patricia Smith was forced to resign after it was discovered that she had fabricated people and quotations in several of her columns.[8] This raised questions of a double standard at the Globe, as Mike Barnicle, who is European-American (Smith is African-American), had been accused of the same offense without being punished. In August of that year, Barnicle was discovered to have copied material for a column from a George Carlin book, Brain Droppings. He was suspended for this offense, and his past columns were reviewed. In their review, the Globe editors found that Barnicle had fabricated a story about two cancer patients, and Barnicle was forced to resign.[9]

Globe reporters were an instrumental part of uncovering the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal in 2001-2003, especially in relation to Massachusetts churches. They were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their work, one of several the paper has received for its investigative journalism.

In the spring of 2005, the Globe retracted a story describing the events of a seal hunt near Halifax, Nova Scotia that took place on April 12, 2005. Written by freelancer Barbara Stewart, a former New York Times staffer, the article described the specific number of boats involved in the hunt and graphically described the killing of seals and the protests that accompanied it. In reality, weather had delayed the hunt, which had not yet begun the day the story had been filed, proving that the details were fabricated.[10][11]

Editorial page

At the Boston Globe, as is customary in the news industry, the editorial pages are separate from the news operation. Editorials represent the official view of the Boston Globe as a community institution. Peter Canellos, former Washington bureau chief, is the editor of the editorial page. The publisher P. Steven Ainsley reserves the right to veto an editorial and usually determines political endorsements for high office.[12]

Describing the political position of the Globe in 2001, former editorial page editor Renee Loth told the Boston University alumni magazine:

The Globe has a long and proud tradition of being a progressive institution, especially on social issues. We are pro-choice; we're against the death penalty; we're for gay rights. But if people read us carefully, they will find that on a whole series of other issues, we are not knee-jerk. We're for charter schools; we're for any number of business-backed tax breaks. We are a lot more nuanced and subtle than that liberal stereotype does justice to.[13]

Magazine

Appearing in the Sunday paper almost every week is the Globe Magazine. Susanne Althoff is the current editor.

As of August 6, 2006, the magazine has seen a new look. This new look consists of the cutting out of the Inspirations section and moving it into the Boston UnCommon section. It also adds departments such as Q/A and Pierced.

On October 23, 2006, the Boston Globe announced the publication of Design New England: The Magazine of Splendid Homes and Gardens. The glossy oversized magazine will publish six times per year.[14]

Contributors

Regular features

Pulitzer prizes

  • 2008 - Criticism, Mark Feeney
  • 2007 - National Reporting, Charlie Savage
  • 2005 - Explanatory Reporting, Gareth Cook
  • 2003 - Public Service, Boston Globe Spotlight Team
  • 2001 - Distinguished Criticism, Gail Caldwell
  • 1997 - Distinguished Commentary, Eileen McNamara
  • 1996 - Distinguished Criticism, Robert Campbell
  • 1995 - Distinguished Beat Reporting, David M Shribman
  • 1985 - Feature Photography, Stan Grossfeld
  • 1984 - Spot News Photography, Stan Grossfeld
  • 1984 - Local Reporting, The Boston Globe
  • 1983 - National Reporting, the Boston Globe Magazine
  • 1980 - Distinguished Commentary, Ellen Goodman
  • 1980 - Distinguished Criticism, William Henry III
  • 1980 - Special Local Reporting, The Boston Globe Spotlight Team
  • 1977 - Editorial Cartooning, Paul Szep
  • 1975 - Meritorious Public Service, The Boston Globe
  • 1974 - Editorial Cartooning, Paul Szep
  • 1972 - Local Reporting, The Boston Globe Spotlight Team
  • 1966 - Meritorious Public Service

Notable contributors

  • John Ellement
  • Brendan Lanigan
  • Bob Ryan
  • Dan Shaughnessy
  • Bud Collins
  • Shira Springer
  • Joan Vennochi
  • Adrian Walker
  • Dan Wasserman
  • Carlo Wolff
  • Cathy Young

Past

  • Mike Barnicle
  • Ron Borges
  • Steve Curwood
  • Gordon Edes
  • George Frazier
  • Peter Gammons
  • George V. Higgins
  • Michael Holley
  • Richard Kindleberger
  • Diane Lewis
  • Alan Lupo
  • Jackie MacMullan
  • Will McDonough
  • Leigh Montville
  • Tim Murnane
  • Jeremiah V. Murphy
  • Mike Reiss
  • Kirk Scharfenberg
  • Michael Smith
  • Patricia Smith
  • Paul Szep
  • Lesley Visser
  • Larry Whiteside

Prices

The Globe prices are: $1.00 Daily, $3.50 Sunday.

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 McKim, Jenifer (2010-04-26). "Circulation drops at Globe, Herald". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2010/04/circulation_dro.html. Retrieved 2010-04-26. 
  2. Gavin, Robert (2005-11-08). "Herald's circulation declines". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/11/08/heralds_circulation_declines/. Retrieved 2006-09-06. 
  3. Palmer, Thomas C., Jr. "Globe Sale Points to Newspapers' Strength". The Boston Globe, page A1, June 12, 1993.
  4. "On the Dot: Special Announcement". Boston.com. 2007. http://www.boston.com/email/regi/2007/5_onthedota.html?camp=red:on:em:otd:letter. 
  5. http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/02/top-15-newspaper-sites-of-2008/
  6. Guilfoil, John M. (May 31, 2009). "Globe, Boston.com win first local Emmys". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/31/globe_bostoncom_win_first_local_emmys/. 
  7. Globe says readers to pay for Web site
  8. O'Brien, Sinéad (September 1998). "Secrets And Lies". American Journalism Review. http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=648. 
  9. O'Brien, Sinéad (September 1998). "For Ba rnicle, One Controversy Too Many". American Journalism Review. http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=192. 
  10. Kurtz, Howard (April 16, 2005). "Boston Globe Admits Freelancer's Story Included Fabrications". Washington Post: C01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57908-2005Apr15.html. 
  11. Associated Press (April 15, 2005). "Boston Globe retracts story by freelancer it says was fabricated". The Boston Glove (Boston.com). Archived from the original on 2005-04-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20060212202041/http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/04/15/boston_globe_retracts_story_by_freelancer_it_says_was_fabricated/. 
  12. "The Boston Globe Opinion Pages Explained". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/oped_explained/. Retrieved 2008-06-05. 
  13. Buccini, Cynthia (2001). "Every Day is Judgment Day". Bostonia, The Alumni Quarterly of Boston University. http://web.archive.org/web/20080610145936/http://www.bu.edu/alumni/bostonia/2001/fall/globe/index.html. Retrieved 2006-07-20. "The Globe has a long and proud tradition of being a progressive institution." 
  14. New York Times Company (2006-10-23). "Boston Globe Media Publishes Premiere Issue of Design New England: The Magazine of Splendid Homes and Gardens". Press release. http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=105317&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=919862. 
  15. Ideas. Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-06-16.

External links

Notes