• The Wall Street Journal, Thursday, October 29, 2009 11:12 PM

After three years as The Boston Globe publisher, Steven Ainsley, 56, will retire in December. He's spent a total of 27 years with the New York Times Co., owner of the Globe. Christopher Mayer, 47, the Globe's senior VP for circulation/operations will replace him.

Ainsley has overseen the Globe during perhaps the most difficult stretch of its 137-year history. Earlier this year, it was losing more than $1 million a week, say insiders. Tensions have flared this year between Times Co. executives, including Ainsley, and Globe employees, who accused the company of mishandling labor negotiations.

Mayer faces a difficult task. The Globe remains unprofitable and will likely have to undergo additional cuts. The choice of Mayer is something of a return to the Globe's roots. He joined the paper in 1984, about a decade before Times Co. purchased it from its owners, the Taylor family, for $1.1 billion.

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