Probably the single most frequent complaint I hear about The Boston Globe is that it’s too expensive. A non-discounted digital-only subscription costs $36 a month, and the paper doesn’t make any gift links available for sharing on social media.
Perhaps that’s changing. Last fall, the Globe unveiled a flexible paywall for its Boston.com satellite site. Subscribers can give away some free shares every month. Boston.com had previously been entirely free, but it does give the tech folks a chance to experiment before deciding whether to introduce the same feature at the Globe itself.
And now the Globe is adding free digital access to anyone with a library card in the Minuteman Library Network, which comprises more than 40 libraries in the Boston area. It already has a similar arrangement with the Boston Public Library. Five hundred users will be allowed to log in simultaneously for a maximum of 72 hours. Is that enough? I don’t know, but it’s a step in the right direction. I’d also like to see some provision for out-of-state readers who might need to access a few Globe stories each year.
Here’s the full press release, which I grabbed from the trade website Editor & Publisher:
The Boston Globe and Minuteman Library Network recently announced a partnership providing their cardholders with access to Boston Globe digital content. This new collaboration continues The Boston Globe’s work with library systems across Massachusetts, bolstering its mission to provide access to award-winning local journalism and high-quality news and information.
Through this partnership, Minuteman cardholders can sign up for a 72-hour digital pass to Globe.com, accessing Boston Globe journalism, puzzles and games, podcasts, videos, Globe Magazine and more. A maximum of 500 passes are available on a first come first serve basis, allowing cardholders from across more than 40 member libraries to access Boston Globe content and the Globe E-Paper, as well as an archive of articles extending back through The Boston Globe’s 153-year history.
Just last year, The Boston Globe announced an expanded partnership with Boston Public Library. With the Globe’s collaboration with Minuteman, Metrowest communities outside Boston, including Westwood, Natick, Cambridge and Newton, will be able to offer free access to The Boston Globe to library members.
“At Boston Globe Media, we are always exploring new ways to deepen our connection with the communities we serve in Massachusetts,” said Michelle Micone, chief marketing and strategic initiatives officer, Boston Globe Media. “Partnering with invaluable institutions like the Minuteman Library Network allows us to expand access to our trusted journalism and ensure more people can engage with the news and information that matter most.”
“The libraries of the Minuteman Library Network are eager to secure access for their cardholders to the Boston Globe’s in-depth reporting in an online platform that renders the full reading experience of the print editions,” said Phil McNulty, executive director, Minuteman Library Network.
Clarification: I’ve updated this item to note that though the Globe doesn’t make gift links available on social media, it does allow subscribers to send a full copy of an article to a non-subscriber via email — which I wrote about a few months ago.
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You can also use your BPL card to access PressReader and read newspapers and magazines from around the world in PDF form, including the Globe. I don’t think there’s a user limit, and the log-in is valid for 30 days.
Library connections are always beneficial. But I still don’t know why they do not provide gift articles.
“… the paper doesn’t make any gift links available.”
That’s not the case, it does. If you look under the headline to an article, off to the right, you will see four graphics in blue. When you hover over them, you will see “save” for the first one, a bookmark; for the second, a curved arrow, nothing shows up (more on that later); next, a printer, with “print”; and last a quote bubble, for “comment.”
Back to the arrow. Click that, and a “Share” menu opens, offering different options to send an article to one’s connections, who don’t have to be Globe subscribers. I’ve used the “E-mail” one to send to friends both out-of- and in-state.
Oops, next option down, you can also “gift” an article…
I should have written that you can’t share gift links to social. One-on-one, yes, as I explained here.
Sorry, a techno-/social media Luddite here.
To return to the larger issue, the arrangement between the Globe and the library system, which speaks to the even larger issue of public access to information, and larger still(!), what’s necessary for a functioning democracy. All to the good to see this. A few points:
• As part of their mission, public libraries have had subscriptions to the print editions of the Globe. Don’t know if at a discount. Print is largely disappearing as a medium for newspapers, though the Globe does offer print/digital subscriptions, which I assume public libraries sign on to. Either version available at the physical site of the library for patron use, not personal at-home.
• Arrangement with Minuteman system allows for personal at-home access. 72-hour limit seems reasonable.
• How does 500 sign-in limit stack against Minuteman member households? Don’t know.
• On the spectrum of totally free access to news and information to completely paid for by subscriber, this (properly) leans to the former. But the proper answer, or portfolio of answers, to sustainable financing of good journalism still eludes. As one, taxpayer-funded subsidies to all public library systems to have similar arrangements with the Globe, other organs?
so this new partnership with libraries is a big deal – does it mean we’ll see more flexible paywall options elsewhere too? 🤔
This feels like a meaningful step toward balancing sustainability and accessibility in local journalism. The subscription price has long been a barrier for many readers, so expanding digital access through the Minuteman Library Network—and previously the Boston Public Library—is a smart, community-centered move by The Boston Globe.
The 72-hour pass model with simultaneous user limits seems like a reasonable pilot, especially if it helps the Globe test demand without undermining subscriptions. I also appreciate the clarification about article sharing via email—small access points like that can make a real difference. It’ll be interesting to see whether these experiments eventually lead to broader flexibility, perhaps even for occasional or out-of-state readers.