The Boston Globe calls its decision not to print a paper today “unprecedented.” But as Aidan Ryan reports (sub. req.), it depends on your definition of unprecedented: “Even during the historic Blizzard of ’78, the Globe printed a few thousand copies of the Feb. 7, 1978, edition, though its delivery trucks couldn’t get through the piles of snow around its old offices on Morrissey Boulevard.”
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Moreover, Ryan notes that today’s edition will be printed and delivered with Wednesday’s paper. It strikes me as an odd move given that the Globe’s website is up and running, including the daily e-paper. But maybe there are a few print customers who really don’t want to read the paper online and who will appreciate having today’s paper — perhaps to commemorate the Blizzard of ’26.
This past November I wrote about how a Boston Globe subscriber could share a gift link with a non-subscriber via email. It was strictly a one-to-one feature — there was no authorized way of sending a gift link to a social-media platform. (There are unauthorized ways, which I’ll let you figure out.)
Within the past day or so, though, a new item suddenly popped up on the Globe’s sharing options called “Gift an Article.” My hope was that the Globe had joined multiple other papers and was now offering a few free gift shares a month that would work anywhere, not just through email.
With great anticipation, I clicked. And I was greeted with a text-entry box that said “Gift This Article Through Email.” The rest of the sharing features — Facebook, Bluesky, etc. — give you a link that lead to a paywall when a non-subscriber clicks on them.
Oh, well. I’ll be optimistic and hope that this is the first step toward a real sharing feature.
The Massachusetts Statehouse. Photo (cc) 2024 by Dan Kennedy.
Politico’s Massachusetts Playbook, a morning email newsletter about state politics, is coming to an end. Kelly Garrity made the announcement earlier today and said she’ll be writing a political newsletter for The Boston Globe that will debut later this year. She writes:
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who ever read, emailed, sent a tip, answered a late-night call/email/text or submitted a birthday. This newsletter is what first put POLITICO on my radar and I feel so lucky to have had the chance to be a part of making something I was a fan of for so long.
The Playbook was launched in September 2015 with Lauren Dezenski at the helm. Dezenski, a Dorchester Reporter alum, is now at Bloomberg. The Playbook has served as an important stepping stone for a number of journalists who have held that position, but now it’s coming to an end.
Although Boston has a number of morning newsletters, I think it’s fair to say that Politico’s only direct competitor in terms of tracking the Massachusetts political scene was MASSter List, from State House News Service, produced by veteran journalist Gintautas Dumcius. Also deserving mention is CommonWealth Beacon, a nonprofit that covers politics and public policy, which has a mid-morning newsletter that’s a little bit different — less insidery and more focused on pulling readers onto its website. (Note: I’m on CommonWealth’s editorial advisory board.)
The move is part of broader cutbacks at Politico as a whole. Corbin Bolies recently reported for The Wrap that Politico was eliminating 3% of its staff. Meanwhile, Axios, founded by two of Politico’s three co-founders, is expanding its local news coverage — although, unfortunately, AI is playing a significant role. (Boston is among the cities with a morning Axios newsletter, but it’s not strictly about politics.)
This also strikes me as a smart move by the Globe, since it’s a way to bring in a reporter who’s already respected by folks who follow state politics closely.
The Cambridge Public Library is part of the Minuteman Library Network, which is now offering digital access to The Boston Globe. Public domain photo circa 1889 via Wikimedia Commons.
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.
Portrait of Jeff Bezos (cc) 2017 by thierry ehrmann.
If The Washington Post’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, ever decides he wants to take journalism seriously again, then he might take a look at a handful of large regional papers that have charted a route to sustainability against the strong headwinds that continue to buffet the news business.
Perhaps the most important difference between these papers and the Post — and the hundreds of other shrinking media outlets owned by corporate chains and hedge funds — is that they are rooted in the communities they cover. Whether owned by wealthy people or run by nonprofits, they place service to their city and region above extracting the last smidgen of revenue they can squeeze out.
Although I could add a few to this list, I am mentioning five large regional newspapers as examples of how it’s possible to succeed despite the long-term decline in the economics of journalism.
Don Lemon reporting from Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn.
On the new “Beat the Press with Emily Rooney,” we look at Don Lemon’s arrest, when journalists should (and shouldn’t) use the word “murder,” looming cuts at The Washington Post, and transitions for Scot Lehigh, who’s retiring from The Boston Globe, and David Brooks, who’s moving from The New York Times to The Atlantic. With Emily, Scott Van Voorhis and me — plus a big assist from producer Tonia Magras.
A couple of big moves to catch you up on in the world of newspaper punditry.
First, David Brooks is leaving The New York Times, where he’s been a center-right columnist for the past 22 years. He’ll be taking a job as a staff writer and podcaster for The Atlantic, where he’s already a contributor. He’s also joining Yale University as a Presidential Senior Fellow at the Jackson School of Global Affairs. Presumably he’ll continue as a commentator for the “PBS NewsHour.” Brooks wrote a rather downbeat farewell column today, saying in part:
We have become a sadder, meaner and more pessimistic country. One recent historical study of American newspapers finds that public discourse is more negative now than at any time since the 1850s. Large majorities say our country is in decline, that experts are not to be trusted, that elites don’t care about regular people. Only 13 percent of young adults believe America is heading in the right direction. Sixty-nine percent of Americans say they do not believe in the American dream.
Scot Lehigh
Second, and closer to home, Scot Lehigh is retiring from The Boston Globe, where he’s worked for the past 36 years. Lehigh has been a columnist for the opinion pages for most of that time, and had been on leave while finishing his second novel. Before that, Lehigh was a political reporter for The Boston Phoenix (we did not intersect) and was a finalist for a 1989 Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Michael Dukakis’ presidential campaign. Lehigh, too, has a farewell column up today, and he says (sub. req.):
[O]nce you reach your mid-60s, you become acutely aware that time isn’t limitless and if you want to try different things, you have to saddle up and sally forth. And so I’m sallying. I had just enough luck with my first novel, “Just East of Nowhere,” a coming-of-age story set in Maine, that I’m attempting a more ambitious novel.
Mid-60s? Scot is a mere child.
Lehigh’s moderate-liberal voice will be missed, and I wish him the best on a long and productive retirement. Brooks isn’t retiring, and, since I’m already an Atlantic subscriber, I’ll continue to be a reader.
Apologies for the delay, but the full episode of “Beat the Press with Emily Rooney” is now up. Our host, Scott Van Voorhis of Contrarian Boston, has posted it in four pieces at his YouTube Channel.
Our topics: Tony Dokoupil’s less than inspiring debut as anchor of the “CBS Evening News”; a crisis in media trust; and the return of Brian McGrory as editor of The Boston Globe following Nancy Barnes’ abrupt departure.
The Star Tribune’s headquarters. Photo (cc) 2019 by Tony Webster.
The Minnesota Star Tribune, which is already getting a lot of attention for its outstanding coverage of ICE’s violent and indiscriminate rampage through Minneapolis and St. Paul, has unveiled some ideas that ought to be considered by every large regional newspaper in the country.
Granted, newspapers owned by corporations and hedge funds aren’t likely to emulate these common-sense ideas, even though they might boost revenue in the long run. But there are still some independent dailies such as The Boston Globe and The Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as a few high-quality chains such as Hearst and Advance, that could learn from the Star Tribune.
► An end to the paywall for live blogs covering breaking news, which will ensure that “its public service journalism is accessible to all.” The Strib’s free live-blog coverage of the ICE occupation has been essential. Moreover, Minnesota residents whose first exposure to the paper’s journalism was through the live blog might be enticed into buying a subscription.
► Unlimited gift links so that subscribers can share articles with friends. The press release doesn’t specify whether those links will be shareable on social media as well, but that is the standard practice at most papers that offer gift links. This is another forward-looking move that will give non-readers a chance to sample the Strib’s coverage and decide whether they want to become paying customers. The Globe, to cite one contrary example, lets you email a gift link to friends, but it’s kludgy and it doesn’t work on social. The Strib’s approach sounds like it will be cleaner and more intuitive.
► A family-plan digital subscription with up to four unique log-ins, offered at a slightly higher price than an individual subscription. The New York Times does this, but I’m not aware of other papers that do it.
► A nonprofit fund that can accept tax-deductible donations to support the Star Tribune’s journalism. (The Local News Fund was started in 2024, but it was re-announced Friday.) Some might object to this; the Strib, like the Globe, is a for-profit owned by a billionaire. But those billionaires have invested a considerable amount of resources into their papers, which are marginally profitable at best. If you accept the proposition that even a billionaire owner shouldn’t be expected to run their paper at a loss, then this is a good way to support high-quality regional news coverage.
The first two panels of this past Sunday’s “Doonesbury.”
I got a tip on Monday that The Boston Globe had lopped off the first two panels of the “Doonesbury” comic that appeared in this past Sunday’s paper. A quick check revealed that, indeed, the original comic consisted of eight panels, and the Globe ran just the last six. Given that the first panel depicted Donald Trump aide Stephen Miller letting loose with a Nazi salute and proclaiming “Heil!,” it seemed that maybe someone got it in their head to err on the side of inoffensiveness. Here is the complete eight-panel “Doonesbury” from this past Sunday.
But it turns out there’s a lot less to this than meets the eye.
In an attempt to find out what was going on, I posted a question on social media asking if this had happened anywhere else. I immediately heard from journalist Joshua J. Friedman, who wrote on Bluesky:
You'll also have to do a survey of whether the given paper always omits the first two (optional) panels! (But you very likely know this.)
I did not! Somehow I had made it to the age of 69 without realizing that many Sunday comic strips, including “Doonesbury,” make the first two panels optional so that newspapers can omit them in order to save space and, thus, money. So no, the Globe did not engage in any censorious editing. It did what it always does, and what many other papers also do. I went back in the archives for both “Doonesbury” and the Globe for several weeks, and in every instance the original consisted of eight panels and the Globe ran just the last six.
Those first two panels invariably consist of a quick and dispensable gag before moving on to the main part of the strip. In the case of last Sunday’s “Doonesbury,” it’s unfortunate that the two-panel gag was a particularly caustic jab at the loathsome Miller. That’s one that shouldn’t have ended up on the cutting-room floor.
My social media respondents told me that The Washington Post, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Portland Press Herald of Maine (which runs “Doonesbury” in its opinion section) were among the dailies that deleted the first two panels from their print editions. Don’t @ me about the Post. One of my correspondents found that the Post had eliminated the first two panels of “Doonesbury” the previous week as well, and presumably does so every week. And by the way, my understanding is that Sunday comic sections are generally not put together by the papers themselves but by syndication services they subscribe to.
Comics have always been regarded as an indispensable part of the Sunday paper, but they have succumbed to cost-cutting just like every other part of the newspaper business. It’s not censorship, but it’s a shame nevertheless.
