The Boston Globe is "in crisis mode," according to the Boston Newspaper Guild President Scott Steeves, after a vendor switch over the holidays led to subscriber complaints about missing newspaper deliveries.
On Dec. 28, the Globe switched its delivery service to ACI Media Group, and in the days that followed, subscribers were vocal about late and missing deliveries: The newspaper was overwhelmed with complaints -- both the old fashioned phoned-in kind and on social media. The Boston Business Journal estimates that roughly 5,000 to 10,000 subscribers were impacted by the delays.
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"We apologize for the disruption," said Globe chief executive Mike Sheehan. “We know that people depend on us every day.”
The guild responded to the situation Saturday night by calling on the newspaper's editorial staff to help with the Sunday delivery to 205,000 Globe subscribers. On Sunday morning, it was clear that many of the staff -- including Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters and editors -- had answered the call to duty:
This is the Sunday editor of The Boston Globe delivering the Sunday Globe. (I'm his wingman.) #globedelivery pic.twitter.com/VfcANkNEkq— David Abel (@davabel) January 3, 2016
Final delivery in Allston on @BostonGlobe delivery route w/ @MeghanIrons & @MikeRezendes. Delivering papers is hard! pic.twitter.com/cYw3HcORbx— Laura Crimaldi (@lauracrimaldi) January 3, 2016
Our @BostonGlobe came with this note from @globepatty @GlobeLizK #globedelivery pic.twitter.com/7J5GIOhiy0— Greg Reibman (@Greg_Reibman) January 3, 2016
Yup! That's El Chapo on the cover of tomorrow's @BostonGlobe that I'll be delivering #theglobedelivers pic.twitter.com/YzD9EWDMyD— Marcela E. Garcia (@marcela_elisa) January 3, 2016
Scout was v. happy the @bostonglobe arrived this morning thanks to journos, editors and other staff hand delivering. pic.twitter.com/C9HNdbKugO— catherine smart (@catherinesmart) January 3, 2016
Look who's excited to spend a Saturday night delivering the @bostonglobe pic.twitter.com/u9kJ5gGYfi— Hilary Sargent (@lilsarg) January 3, 2016
Here comes @GlobeMoskowitz, paper in hand. #TheGlobeDelivers pic.twitter.com/IfXvS3QxBm— Steve Annear (@steveannear) January 3, 2016
.@steveannear delivering to home behind Thirsty Scholar as a 7 am skateboarder glides past. View from @dskok's ride pic.twitter.com/2jqaWDK1W0— Eric Moskowitz (@GlobeMoskowitz) January 3, 2016
On the way to the airport, in the dark this a.m., saw a @BostonGlobe reporter delivering papers by the light of her phone. Clumsy but great.— Kytja Weir (@kytja) January 3, 2016
Rather inspiring reading the tweets from @BostonGlobe reporters who are delivering papers themselves. That is some serious dedication.— Cara Rubinsky (@crubinsky) January 3, 2016
Hands in for the last paper, completely delirious, 9 hours in. @steveannear @dskok are endurance machines pic.twitter.com/XNkgGxVEhu— Eric Moskowitz (@GlobeMoskowitz) January 3, 2016
Deliveries didn't go completely smoothly, though: Metro reporter Eric Moskowitz said he got egged.
As if it wasn't throwback enough - while waiting to get picked up for my @BostonGlobe paper route, I just got egged pic.twitter.com/GnpFNmLRv2— Eric Moskowitz (@GlobeMoskowitz) January 3, 2016
More than one reporter said that the work of delivering the papers was a lesson in the difficulty of the job.
Wow I did not know delivering papers was this time consuming. @MiltonValencia @BostonGlobe— Evan Allen (@EvanMAllen) January 3, 2016
IRL it is so much less fun than the game Paperboy @steveannear pic.twitter.com/rwebZhgZVt— Eric Moskowitz (@GlobeMoskowitz) January 3, 2016
Despite the hard work, many of those who took to the streets to deliver the paper clearly made a good time of it. Jokes were as plentiful as tweeted pics of delivered papers.
Photo taken a few minutes ago showing @BostonGlobe journalists, moments after delivering the last Sunday Globe. pic.twitter.com/38hzc8l7U0— Mark Garfinkel (@pictureboston) January 3, 2016