The Boston Globe, also known locally asthe Globe, is an American dailynewspaper founded and based inBoston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of27 Pulitzer Prizes.[4]The Boston Globe is the oldest and largest daily newspaper in Boston andtenth-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States of America as of 2023.[5]
The newspaper is "one of the nation's most prestigious papers".[6] In 1967,The Boston Globe became the first major paper in the U.S. to oppose theVietnam War.[8] The paper's 2002 coverage of theRoman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal received international media attention and served as the basis for the 2015 American drama filmSpotlight.[5] Since February 2023, theeditor has beenNancy Barnes.[9][10]
An advertisement forThe Boston Globe from 1896The originalBoston Daily Globe building onWashington Street in Boston, circa 1872
The Boston Globe was founded in 1872 by sixBoston businessmen who jointly invested $150,000 (equivalent to $3,937,083 in 2024).[1] The founders includedEben Dyer Jordan of theJordan Marsh department store, andCyrus Wakefield of theWakefield Rattan Company and namesake of the town ofWakefield, Massachusetts.[11]: 3–5 The first issue was published on March 4, 1872, and sold for four cents (equivalent to $1.05 in 2024).[1] In August 1873, Jordan hiredCharles H. Taylor as temporary business manager; in December, Taylor signed a contract to be general manager of the paper for two years.[1] He would serve as the firstpublisher ofThe Boston Globe until his death in 1921, and was succeeded by four of his descendants until 1999.[1]
Originally a morning daily, theGlobe began its Sunday edition in 1877. A weekly edition calledThe Boston Weekly Globe, catering to mail subscribers outside the city, was published from 1873 until it was absorbed by the Sunday edition in 1892.[12][11]: 101 In 1878,The Boston Globe started an afternoon edition calledThe Boston Evening Globe, which ceased publication in 1979.[13] The morning edition bore the titleThe Boston Daily Globe until the word "Daily" was dropped from the nameplate in 1960.[14] By the 1890s,The Boston Globe had become a stronghold, with an editorial staff dominated byIrish American Catholics.[15]
In the early 1900s Charles H. Taylor was responsible for making the Globe the most used newspaper in New England. He went into greater details regarding social movements such as theWomen's suffrage movement,[18] while other competitors such asThe Boston Post did not shine as much light on these social movements.
In 1955,Laurence L. Winship was named editor, ending a 75-year period of the role being held by the paper's publishers.[11]: 447 In the next decade, theGlobe rose from third to first in the competitive field of what was then eight Boston newspapers.[20]
In 1965,Thomas Winship succeeded his father as editor. The younger Winship transformed theGlobe from a mediocre local paper into a regional paper of national distinction. He served as editor until 1984, during which time the paper won a dozenPulitzer Prizes, the first in the paper's history.[22]
The Boston Globe was a private company until 1973 when it went public under the nameAffiliated Publications. It continued to be managed by the descendants of Charles Taylor. In 1993,The New York Times Company purchased Affiliated Publications forUS$1.1billion, makingThe Boston Globe a wholly owned subsidiary ofThe New York Times' parent.[23][24] The Jordan and Taylor families received substantial The New York Times Company stock, but by 1999 the last Taylor family members had left management.[25]
Boston.com, the online edition ofThe Boston Globe, was launched on theWorld Wide Web in 1995.[26] Consistently ranked among the top ten newspaper websites in America,[27] it has won numerous national awards and took two regionalEmmy Awards in 2009 for its video work.[28]
The Boston Globe has consistently been ranked in the forefront of American journalism.Time magazine listed it as one of the ten best US daily newspapers in 1974 and 1984, and theGlobe tied for sixth in a national survey of top editors who chose "America's Best Newspapers" in theColumbia Journalism Review in 1999.[29]
The Boston Globe was the paper that allowedPeter Gammons to start hisNotes section on baseball, which has become a mainstay in many major newspapers nationwide. In 2004, Gammons became the 56th recipient of theJ. G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing, given by theBBWAA; he was honored at theBaseball Hall of Fame on July 31, 2005.[33]
On April 2, 2009, The New York Times Company threatened to close the paper if its unions did not agree to $20 million of cost savings.[35][36] Some of the cost savings include reducing union employees' pay by 5%, ending pension contributions, and ending certain employees' tenures.[35][36]
The Boston Globe eliminated the equivalent of 50 full-time jobs; among buy-outs and layoffs, it swept out most of the part-time employees in the editorial sections. However, early on the morning of May 5, 2009, The New York Times Company announced it had reached a tentative deal with the Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents most of theGlobe's editorial staff, that allowed it to get the concessions it demanded. The paper's other three major unions had agreed to concessions on May 3, 2009, after The New York Times Company threatened to give the government 60 days' notice that it intended to close the paper.[37] Despite the cuts helping to "significantly [improve]" its financial performance by October of that year, theGlobe's parent company indicated that it was considering strategic alternatives for the paper, but did not plan to sell it.[38]
As of 2010, theGlobe hosted 28blogs covering a variety of topics, includingBoston sports, local politics, and a blog made up of posts from the paper's opinion writers.[39]
In September 2011,The Boston Globe launched a dedicated, subscription-based website at bostonglobe.com.[40]
Starting in 2012, theGlobe provided a printing and circulating service for theBoston Herald, and by 2013, was handling its rival's entire press run.[5] This arrangement remained in place until 2018, ending after the acquisition of theHerald byDigital First Media.[41]
In February 2013,The New York Times Company announced that it would sell itsNew England Media Group, which encompasses theGlobe; bids were received by six parties, including John Gormally, then-owner ofWGGB-TV inSpringfield, Massachusetts, another group included members of formerGlobe publishers, the Taylor family, andBoston Red Sox principal ownerJohn W. Henry, who bid for the paper through theNew England Sports Network, which was majority owned byFenway Sports Group and theBoston Bruins. However, after the NESN group dropped out of the running to buy the paper, Henry made his separate bid to purchase theGlobe in July 2013.[42][43]
On October 24, 2013, he took ownership of theGlobe, at a $70million purchase price,[44][45] and renamed the ventureBoston Globe Media.
On January 30, 2014, Henry named himself publisher and named Mike Sheehan, a prominent former Boston ad executive, to be CEO.[46] As of January 2017[update], Doug Franklin replaced Mike Sheehan as CEO,[47] then Franklin resigned after six months in the position, in July 2017, as a result of strategic conflicts with owner Henry.[48]
In July 2016, the 815,000-square-foot headquarters in Dorchester was sold to an unknown buyer for an undisclosed price.[49] TheGlobe moved its printing operations in June 2017 to Myles Standish Industrial Park inTaunton, Massachusetts. Also in June 2017, theGlobe moved its headquarters toExchange Place in Boston'sFinancial District.[50]
In July 2022, James Dao, a senior editor with 30 years of experience atThe New York Times, was named the editorial page editor, succeeding Bina Venkataraman.[51]
In November 2022,The Boston Globe announced that NPR news chiefNancy Barnes would replaceBrian McGrory as editor.[9]
From September 1, 2022, to August 31, 2023, theGlobe's combined print and digital circulation for weekdays increased by 2.7%, to 346,944, and for Sundays it rose by 1.3%, to 408,974. There are more than 245,000 digital-only subscriptions, an increase of about 10,000 since February 2022.[52]
Starting with the Sunday edition in 1891,[11]: 75 and expanded to weekday editions in 1913,[11]: 176 each lead editorial in theGlobe was signed "Uncle Dudley", a practice ended by editor Thomas Winship in 1966.[53][54]
In March 1980, theGlobe published an editorial about a speech by PresidentJimmy Carter, which included the accidental headline "Mush from the Wimp" during part of the press run, drawing national attention.[55]
Since 1981, the editorial pages of theGlobe have been separate from the news operation,[56] as is frequently customary in thenews industry. Editorials represent the official view ofThe Boston Globe as a community institution. The publisher reserves the right to veto an editorial and usually determines political endorsements for high office.[57]
TheGlobe made its first political endorsement in 1967, supportingKevin White in that year'sBoston mayoral election.[58] TheGlobe has consistently endorsed Democratic presidential candidates, such asJoe Biden in the2020 presidential election,[59] but has sometimes endorsed Republicans in state and local elections, such as Charlie Baker for governor.[60]
Describing the political position ofThe Boston Globe editorial page in 2001, former editorial page editor Renée Loth told theBoston University alumni magazine:
TheGlobe has a long tradition of being aprogressive institution, and especially on social issues. We support woman's rights; 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 forcharter schools; we're for any number of business-backed tax breaks. We are a lot more nuanced and subtle than thatliberal stereotype does justice to.[61]
James Dao became the editorial page editor in 2022.[62]
In August 2018, the editorial board launched a coordinated campaign for newspapers nationwide to respond to PresidentDonald Trump's "enemy of the people" attacks and "fake news" rants against the media by publishing locally produced editorial responses on Thursday, August 16.[63][64] Within a couple of days, an estimated 100+ newspapers had pledged to join the campaign,[65] jumping to roughly 200 a few days later.[66]
On August 13, theRadio Television Digital News Association and its Voice of the First Amendment Task Force encouraged its 1,200 member organizations to join the campaign,[67] while other media organizations also helped spread the call to action.[68] Even as some right-leaning outlets portrayed theGlobe's campaign as an attack on the president, rather than his rhetorical attacks on theFourth Estate,[69][70] some newspapers got a head start, releasing content on August 15,[71][72] while 350 newspapers participated in the event on August 16.[73][74]
From August 10 to 22, approximately 14 threatening phone calls were made toBoston Globe offices.[75][76][77] The caller stated that theGlobe was the "enemy of the people" and threatened to kill newspaper employees.[78] On August 30, California resident Robert Chain was arrested by an FBISWAT team and charged with a single count of making a threatening communication in interstate commerce.[78] In May 2019, Chain pleaded guilty in a US federal court to seven counts of making threatening communications in interstate commerce.[79]
Appearing in the Sunday paper almost every week isThe Boston Globe Magazine. As of 2018[update], Veronica Chao is the editor, and contributors includeNeil Swidey andMeredith Goldstein.
Since 2004, the December issue features aBostonian of the Year.[80] Past winners include Red Sox general managerTheo Epstein (2004), retired judge andBig Dig whistleblower Edward Ginsburg (2005), governorDeval Patrick (2006), Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America founder and CEO Bruce Marks (2007), NBA championPaul Pierce (2008), professorElizabeth Warren (2009), Republican politicianScott Brown (2010), U.S. attorneyCarmen Ortiz andArtsEmerson executive director Robert Orchard[81] (2011), Olympic gold medalistsAly Raisman andKayla Harrison (2012),[82] three people who were near theBoston Marathon bombing, Dan Marshall, Natalie Stavas, and Larry Hittinger (2013),[83]Market Basket employees (2014),[84] and neuropathologistAnn McKee (2017).[85]
On October 23, 2006, Boston Globe Media announced the publication ofDesign New England: The Magazine of Splendid Homes and Gardens. The glossy oversized magazine was published six times per year.[86] The magazine ceased publication in 2018.
On January 22, 2025, Boston Globe Media acquiredBoston magazine—"known for its long form journalism, lifestyle and food coverage" and 50-year-old "Best of Boston" franchise from Philadelphia-basedMetrocorp Publishing.[87] As of 2025, Chris Vogel is the editor-in-chief.
1966: Meritorious Public Service for its "campaign to prevent the confirmation ofFrancis X. Morrissey as a Federal District judge."[88]
1972: Local Reporting,The Boston Globe Spotlight Team for "their exposure of political favoritism and conflict of interest by office holders inSomerville, Massachusetts."[89]
1984: For Local Investigative Specialized Reporting, Kenneth Cooper, Joan Fitz Gerald, Jonathan Kaufman, Norman Lockman, Gary Mc Millan, Kirk Scharfenberg and David Wessel ofThe Boston Globe for a series onracism including self-criticism.[97][96]
2003: Public Service,Boston Globe Entire Newspaper Staff including the Spotlight Team for "courageous, comprehensive coverage in its disclosures of sexual abuse by priests in the Roman Catholic Church"[100]
2005: Explanatory Reporting,Gareth Cook for "explaining, with clarity and humanity, the complex scientific and ethical dimensions of stem cell research."[101]
2021: Investigative Reporting, for Blind Spot series which "uncovered a systematic failure by state governments to share information about dangerous truck drivers that could have kept them off the road, prompting immediate reforms."[108]
TheGlobe uses "editor" as the highest title; other newspapers may call this roleeditor-in-chief.[110] The role of editor was held by three people in the earliest years of the paper, then from 1880 to 1955 by the publishers.[11]: 447 The extended period of a publisher-editor ended in 1955, when Laurence L. Winship was named editor by publisher William Davis Taylor.[111][11]: 447 Winship became the paper's top editor following the death of James Morgan, longtimede facto executive editor.[112] Morgan had joined theGlobe in January 1884, hired by Charles H. Taylor.[113][11]: 46
In 1998, columnistPatricia Smith was forced to resign after it was discovered that she had fabricated people and quotations in several of her columns.[115] In August of that year, columnistMike Barnicle was discovered to have copied material for a column from aGeorge Carlin book,Brain Droppings. He was suspended for this offense, and his past columns were reviewed.The Boston Globe editors found that Barnicle had fabricated a story about two cancer patients, and Barnicle was forced to resign.[116] ColumnistJeff Jacoby was suspended by theGlobe in 2000 for failing to credit non-original content used in his column.[117]
In 2004, theGlobe apologized for printing graphic photographs that the article represented as showing U.S. soldiers raping Iraqi women during theIraq War from a city councilor's presentation before they were verified. The photos had already been found by other news organizations to be from an internet pornography site.[118][119]
In the spring of 2005, theGlobe retracted a story describing the events of a seal hunt nearHalifax,Nova Scotia, that took place on April 12, 2005. Written by freelancer Barbara Stewart, a formerNew 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.[120][121]
ColumnistKevin Cullen was suspended by theGlobe in 2018 for embellishing claims he made on radio and in public appearances related to theBoston Marathon bombing.[122]
The Boston Globe maintains two distinct major websites:BostonGlobe.com is a subscriber-supported site with apaywall and content from the printed paper; andBoston.com, one of the first regional news portals,[123] is supported by advertising. Between September 2011 and March 2014, theGlobe gradually withdrew stories written byGlobe journalists from Boston.com, making the sites more and more separated.[124] BostonGlobe.com was designed to emphasize a premium experience focusing on content and emulating the visual appearance ofThe Boston Globe newspaper; the site was one of the first major websites to use aresponsive design that automatically adapts its layout to a device's screen size. Boston.com followed suit in 2014. The two sites are aimed towards different readers; while Boston.com became targeted towards "casual" readers and local content, the newBoston Globe website is targeted towards the audience of the paper itself.[125][126][127]
TheGlobe had 226,000 digital subscribers as of December 2021, among the highest of any metro newspapers in the country.[129]
Boston Globe Media Partners, which owns theGlobe, operates a number of websites covering certain niche subjects. The sites share many resources, like office space, with theGlobe, but are often branded separately from the newspaper:
Loveletters.boston.com is a love advice column run byMeredith Goldstein, an advice columnist and entertainment reporter forThe Boston Globe.
Realestate.boston.com is a regional website that offers advice on buying, selling, home improvement, and design with expert advice, insider neighborhood knowledge, the latest listings to buy or rent, and a window into the world of luxury living.
Crux was launched by theGlobe in September 2014 to focus on news related to theCatholic Church.[124][130][131] At the end of March 2016,The Globe ended its association withCrux, transferring ownership of the website to theCrux staff. WithJohn L. Allen Jr. as the new editor,Crux received sponsorship from theKnights of Columbus and several Catholicdioceses.[131][132][133]
^abcdefghijLyons, Louis M. (1971).Newspaper Story: One Hundred Years of the Boston Globe. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.ISBN0674622251.
^Gavin, Robert; O'Brien, Keith (May 6, 2009)."Globe, guild reach deal".The Boston Globe.Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. RetrievedApril 17, 2020.
^Swidey, Neil (December 22, 2013)."2013 Bostonians of the Year".The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts.Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. RetrievedApril 11, 2016.
^Heinz Dietrich Fischer, Erika J. Fischer,Press Photography Awards, 1942–1998: From Joe Rosenthal and Horst Faas to Moneta Sleet and Stan Grossfeld: Volume 14 of The Pulitzer Prize Archive: A History and Anthology of Award-winning Materials in Journalism, Letters, and Arts, Walter de Gruyter, 2000,ISBN3-598-30170-7,ISBN978-3-598-30170-4, page lxiv.
^Heinz Dietrich Fischer, Erika J. Fischer,Social Commentary 1969–1989: From University Troubles to a California Earthquake, Walter de Gruyter, 1991,ISBN3-598-30170-7,ISBN978-3-598-30170-4 page 194.
^"Boston Globe Wins Pulitzer Prize For Public Service",Rome News-Tribune, page 7, April 8, 2003.
^"The Boston Globe's Gareth Cook Wins 2005 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism", Business Wire, April 4, 2005.
^"Globe art critic Sebastian Smee wins Pulitzer", Culture Desk, April 18, 2011.
^"Taylors of the Globe".The Boston Globe. October 8, 2009. p. B9.Archived from the original on June 23, 2021. RetrievedMarch 6, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
^"Boston Sunday Globe (masthead)".The Boston Globe. October 21, 2001. p. E6.Archived from the original on June 19, 2021. RetrievedMarch 6, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
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