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‘Boston Globe’ Reporters Pitch In As Paperboys After Facing Trouble With New Delivery Service: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journos Hand-Deliver Newspapers

By Alap Naik Desai
Published on: 02:37 PST, Jan 4, 2016

Boston Globe reporters pulled out all stops to ensure their readers had the Sunday edition of the newspaper. Acting as paperboys, even Pulitzer prize-winning journalists took to the streets to hand-deliver the daily.

Apparently, the Boston Globe is “in crisis mode” after a vendor the daily publication entrusted with the job of delivering the newspapers didn’t come through. The vendor switch that was affected over the holidays went sour, leaving many subscribers of the newspaper upset at not getting their daily dose of the printed news. After being at the receiving end of many subscriber complaints about missing newspaper deliveries, Boston Globe appealed to its reporters and editors to answer the call of duty, and they answered. Dozens of employees hand-delivered the Sunday edition of Boston Globe to hundreds of subscribers.

Boston Globe editors and reporters voluntarily gave up part of their weekend to make sure subscribers got their Sunday newspaper, reported CBS Boston. Dozens of the newspaper’s reporting and editorial staff volunteered to hand-deliver newspapers from midnight into the early morning hours on Sunday. Meanwhile, other employees manned the phones, apologizing for the erratic delivery of newspapers after a vendor switch over the holidays proved disastrous. Many irate customers were calling to ask why they hadn’t seen their paper in days.

It all started on December 28, when the Boston Globe switched its delivery service to ACI Media Group, reported Mashable. While it isn’t immediately clear what went wrong, complaints about erratic deliveries started coming in the following days. Subscribers were quite vocal about late or entirely missing deliveries.

Despite it being the digital age, the Boston Globe still commands an impressive subscriber base of over 205,000 faithful but particular subscribers. Although people still read the physical newspaper, many chose to approach the Globe through social media besides the old-fashioned phone call.

According to Boston Business Journal, about 5,000 to 10,000 subscribers were affected by the delays. However, the Boston Globe reported only 5 percent of subscribers were experiencing delivery issues, reported Bills Insider.

Acknowledging the delay and apologizing to the subscriber base, Globe chief executive Mike Sheehan said, “We apologize for the disruption. We know that people depend on us every day.”

To ensure the deliveries of the Sunday edition could be made, the Globe appealed to the newspaper’s editorial staff. By Sunday morning, it was evident that many of the staff, including Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters and editors, had responded to the call. Dozens from the editorial staff had hopped in their vehicles to deliver the newspaper. It was quite apparent from the steady stream of tweets that journalists were determined to get their stories into readers’ hands.

Despite the valiant efforts of the reporters, some of whom even got egged, the Globe admitted up to 4,000 newspapers never reached their destinations. While applauding the reporters, managers, and staffers, the Globe added that its new delivery service is still getting the hang of the deliveries. Indicating that the Globe isn’t getting rid of the company, the newspaper said in a statement that ACI Media is trying to get up to speed with a new staff of 500 carriers who need to learn new routes.

The majority of the reporters who volunteered came back with a new-found respect for the humble paperboy, whose job may look simple but certainly isn’t. However, as the news spread, a few were treated with coffee on their delivery route.

Apparently, the Globe is now looking to build a larger network of contractors to help ease deliveries back to where they were prior to the switch in companies, shared the Boston Globe’s vice president, Peter Doucette. The company added that it’s working with its new vendor to eliminate future delivery problems. However, newspaper admitted that the entire process could take anywhere between four and six months to smoothen.

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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