The Boston Globe

Lore & Background

The Boston Globe, often called the Globe by locals, is a daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the city’s oldest and largest daily, and the tenth-largest newspaper in the United States by print circulation. Six Boston businessmen founded it in 1872, putting up $150,000. Early on, Charles H. Taylor, hired as temporary business manager, took over as publisher and his family ran the paper for generations.

It stayed private until 1973, then went public. In 1993, The New York Times bought it for $1.1 billion, one of the priciest print acquisitions in U.S. history. By 2013, the Times sold it to sports owner John W. Henry for just $70 million, a loss of more than 90% of its value over two decades. Its main print competitor is the Boston Herald, which had a smaller circulation and was shrinking faster as of 2018.

The Globe has won 27 Pulitzer Prizes. In 2013, The New York Times called it “one of the nation’s most prestigious papers.” In 1967, it became the first major U.S. newspaper to oppose the Vietnam War. Its 2002 reporting on the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal drew global attention and inspired the 2015 film Spotlight. Brian McGrory has been the editor since January 2026.

Reader's Guide

The Boston Globe was founded in 1872 by six Boston businessmen who jointly invested $150,000. The first issue was published on March 4, 1872. Originally a morning daily, the Globe began its Sunday edition in 1877.

A weekly edition called The Boston Weekly Globe was published from 1873 until it was absorbed by the Sunday edition in 1892. In 1878, The Boston Globe started an afternoon edition called The Boston Evening Globe, which ceased publication in 1979. The morning edition bore the title The Boston Daily Globe until the word 'Daily' was dropped from the nameplate in 1960.

In 1958, the Globe moved from its original location on Washington Street in downtown Boston to Morrissey Boulevard in the Dorchester neighborhood. Boston.com, the online edition, was launched in 1995. In 2017, the newspaper moved its printing operations to Taunton and its headquarters to Downtown Boston.

Did You Know?

• Charles H. Taylor served as the first publisher of The Boston Globe until his death in 1921, and was succeeded by four of his descendants until 1999.