The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe, daily newspaper published in Boston, the city’s largest and one of the most influential newspapers in the United States.
Founded in 1872, the Globe grew slowly at first, reaching a circulation of about 8,000 in 1877, when it was purchased by Charles H. Taylor. Under Taylor as publisher, the Globe began to publish an evening as well as a morning edition, to increase its coverage of New England and local news, and to feature big headlines, especially on sensational stories of crime and catastrophe. Taylor laced the local and regional news as heavily as possible with subscribers’ names.
The Boston Globe has long been ranked one of the top papers in the United States. In the 20th century the Globe, still under Taylor and then his sons, continued to stress local and regional news but devoted increasing attention to national and international news coverage while maintaining a generally liberal editorial stance.
In 1993 the New York Times Company acquired the Globe for $1.1 billion. As the Globe faced declining revenue, the Times in 2009 threatened to shut it down but relented after the unions agreed to wage and benefit cuts. Four years later the Times sold the paper to John W. Henry, a businessman from the Boston area; the $70 million deal also included several other properties.
The Globe is recognized for its investigative reporting and its wide range of commentary on subjects ranging from music to politics to medicine. As of 2025 the newspaper had earned more than 25 Pulitzer Prizes including the 2003 Gold Medal for Public Service for its investigation into the coverup of pedophile priests by the Roman Catholic Church’s Boston Archdiocese. The story of the investigation was recounted in the Academy Award-winning film Spotlight. The Pulitzer Board citation for that work praises the Globe’s: