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NY Times Sells Boston Globe For $70 Million, 20 Years After Buying It For $1.1 Billion
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 3, 2013
Modified Aug 3, 2013
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 3, 2013
Modified Aug 3, 2013
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The NY Times announced that it had sold The Boston Globe for $70 million to Red Sox owner John Henry. The Times notably purchased the Globe in 1993 for $1.1 billion and flirted with selling the paper in recent years.
The Times reports, "[The sale price would] represent a staggering drop in value for the Globe, which The Times bought in 1993 for $1.1 billion, the highest price paid for an American newspaper. At the time, The Globe was one of the nation’s most prestigious papers in a far more robust newspaper environment. But like other newspapers, it began to lose readers and advertisers to the Internet, and revenue plummeted. The Times Company has taken several write-downs related to the New England Media Group, and in February it said it was putting The Globe and other assets in the group up for sale."
Henry issued a statement, "The Boston Globe’s award-winning journalism as well as its rich history and tradition of excellence have established it as one of the most well respected media companies in the country," and noted the "essential role that its journalists and employees play in Boston, throughout New England, and beyond."
The Globe points out, "The deal is sure to spark debate in journalism circles and among Globe readers about whether the Globe’s coverage of the Red Sox, which regularly includes critical commentary, will be affected."
Henry, first a businessman and investor and then a sports franchise owner, doesn't have any experience in the news industry. However, he lives in Brookline, a suburb of Boston. Bill Grueskin, dean for academic affairs at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, told the Globe, "Having somebody with roots in the community and an intrinsic interest in local coverage and local government is better than having some from out of town... What the Globe needs now is not so much a journalism guy as someone with strong business credentials and the integrity to keep the business separate from the journalism."
According to the Times, "Like most newspapers, The Globe has struggled to hold onto its readers and the print advertisers who fed its profits for decades. According to the Alliance for Audited Media, circulation at The Globe from Monday through Friday declined 38 percent in 2013 from 2003, to 245,572 from 402,423. Before the Times Company bought The Globe in 1993, The Globe had a weekday circulation of 506,996."
The deal, an all-cash one, will be completed in the next month or two.
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boston globe
john henry
journalism
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newspaper
ny times
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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