Commentary

'Boston Globe' Reporters Deliver Newspapers

by Erik Sass , Staff Writer, January 4, 2016

Reporters for The Boston Globe worked around the clock — literally — to bring their readers the news this weekend, as hundreds of Globe employees rushed to fill in when the newspaper’s delivery service fell short.

Around 200 Globe workers, including scores of newsroom staffers, worked through the night on Saturday and early into Sunday morning, following an emailed plea from Scott Steeves, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild and an executive board member at the The Boston Globe.

The plea was prompted by growing complaints from subscribers about missed deliveries over the course of the week, resulting from a botched transition to a new delivery service, ACI Media Group, on December 28. According to the Globe’s own report, ACI delivered 95% of the newspapers successfully, but other reports put the proportion as low as 90%.

Boston Globe CEO Mike Sheehan wrote a letter to readers apologizing for the disruption, but the situation got even worse with revelations that ACI predicted it might take up to six months to restore normal delivery.

The problem: it was having a hard time hiring enough delivery drivers. Many of the newsless readers canceled their subscriptions or took to social media to complain.

With customers livid, the newspaper called all hands on deck. To demonstrate their commitment to resolving the issue, the Guild asked all the newspaper’s editorial employees to pitch in, with Steeves’ email warning: “We are in crisis mode.”

The night shift crew was also responsible for folding, bagging and shipping the newspapers to distribution points.

While everybody loves a cute story around the New Year, and the reporters succeeded in demonstrating their goodwill, it seems like the Globe’s delivery woes are just beginning. ACI’s contract somehow lets it off the hook for delivery disruptions in the first three months, and it won’t be easy to switch back to the old delivery service, Publishers Circulation Fulfillment.

Many Publishers Circulation Fulfillment employees have probably gone on to find other employment — not so difficult in the age of Uber.

There’s also one interesting lesson from the Globe’s snafu: A lot of people still really, really like reading their print newspapers. Here’s hoping the Globe doesn’t lose its most committed readers over the next few months.

It's just not reasonable to expect even your most loyal customers to continue paying for something you can’t deliver.

boston, newspapers

4 comments about "'Boston Globe' Reporters Deliver Newspapers ".

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Chuck Lantz from 2007ac.com, 2017ac.com network, January 4, 2016 at 6:03 p.m.
Since my first "real" employment was delivering newspapers at the crack of dawn, seven days a week on my trusty bicycle, at the tender age of 12, I read this article with a certain amount of glee.
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Gordon Borrell from Borrell Associates, January 4, 2016 at 6:11 p.m.

Hell, I would have definitely chipped in, harkening to my youth in the '60s, delivering The Bulletin and The Inquirer. Glad to see the all-hands call by The Guild. This would never have happened 10 or more years ago.

Steven Cherry from TTI/Vanguard, January 5, 2016 at 9:54 a.m.

My first job was delivering the Long Island Press (in Queens, N.Y.). I had a great route, but it was hard to get to, and unfortunately tying a laundry cart to the back of a bicycle didn't work out as well as I hoped. I switched to a route closer to home.

Today, the job is done by adults, pays poorly, has no benefits, and bad hours. It's not surprising they can't find enough people to do it; it's surprising they can find any. And one has to suspect there's more to the story here. Why wouldn't a number of Publishers Circulation Fulfillment employees switch to ACI? Probably ACI underbid PCF, and pays employees even less than ACI.

Jay Fredrickson from Fredrickson Services Inc., January 5, 2016 at 11:55 a.m.

Sad story to read. Why did the company switch delivery companies? Probably to save a few bucks. Another example of how doing it more cheaply doesn't mean doing it better. The newspaper industry shoots themselves in the foot way too often, cutting costs, cutting quality, leading to more cost cuts, with lower quality results and on and on and on. Too bad, hope they get this fixed, and good for all the people that pitched in and did the extra work.