Neither Boston Globe publisher Steve Ainsley or New York Times Co. spokeswoman Catherine Mathis would speak to Globe reporters Robert Gavin and Robert Weisman for their story on the Times Co.’s threat to shut the paper down. Think about that for a moment.
The result is that the Globe’s own story is based entirely on union sources. According to those sources, management is saying the Globe lost $50 million in 2008 and is on track to lose $85 million in 2009. If those numbers are correct — and I don’t think anyone doubts them — that’s a lot of money.
At the same time, I’ve been told that the paper’s annual revenues are still north of $300 million. What that tells me is that the Globe is not at all beyond saving — but that it’s going to have to be reinvented as a drastically different paper. Here are some suggestions I made recently.
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Also interesting and unusual about the coverage is that Brian McGrory got a tagline for the story (the one in the paper, not the business ticker). Looking at the clips, he hasn’t written since Oct. 2007.
Yes, the Boston Globe should be savable. But it has to come back to planet earth from the enormous cash cow it was in the 80s, and I don’t know if people are willing to adapt to that. AOS Jr. and Miss Robinson, too, might be more show than substance.