History

The Boston Globe has served the community as a trusted source of news, analysis, and insight for more than 150 years. The company has evolved from a newspaper into a multimedia hub for breaking news across multiple platforms.
Scroll through the years to learn more about the paper’s founders, leadership transitions, and historical growth.

2023

In partnership with NESN, Boston Globe Media airs it’s first Boston Globe Today episodes, a weekday TV show. The Boston Globe also further invests in its Granite State coverage with the creation of Boston Globe New Hampshire.

2022

The Globe celebrates its Sesquicentennial Anniversary and names Nancy Barnes its next editor, the first woman to serve in the role. Boston Globe Media launches The B-Side, a new email and social-only product.

2020

Linda Henry is named CEO of Boston Globe Media, becoming the first woman to lead a major metro newspaper. In the same year, the Globe surpassed 200,000 digital subscribers, achieving more than double the audience growth in 11 months than in the seven years it took to reach 100,000.

Boston Globe Media helped support its community and neighbors during the COVID-19 pandemic with programs like Boston Helps, Serving the Front Lines, and more.

2018

The Boston Globe reaches 100,000 digital subscribers.

2017

Boston Globe Media moved into its new headquarters in Downtown Boston, closer to its roots at the old Newspaper Row, and opened a brand-new production center in Taunton, Mass., with state-of-the-art printing facilities.

2015

STAT News, an online health and life-sciences publication, was launched to cover stories from across the country with a focus on science research and development, as well as medicine, biotechnology, and political stories related to science. 

2015

Spotlight, the 2015 film that chronicled the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of the Spotlight Team into cases of widespread and systemic child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests, won two Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Following the film’s release, the Globe created the Spotlight Investigative Journalism Fellowship, which awards an annual $100,000 fellowship to an individual or team of journalists to pursue in-depth investigative stories.

2013

In October 2013, Red Sox owner John W. Henry purchased the Globe and its affiliated businesses from the New York Times Company, marking a new chapter for the organization.

1999

The New York Times Company purchased the Worcester Telegram & Gazette in 1999 to complement the Globe’s circulation area. 

1995

Boston.com was launched in 1995 and is now one of the country’s strongest regional websites. 

1993

On October 1, 1993, The New York Times Company purchased The Boston Globe and Affiliated Publications.

1973

The Globe was a private company until 1973, when it became a subsidiary and principal property of the newly formed Affiliated Publications. Over a span of 20 years, Affiliated’s interests expanded into television and radio stations, magazines, a daily and weekly paper, and cellular telephones. 

Left to right: William O. Taylor, William Davis Taylor, John I. Taylor

1970

The award-winning Spotlight investigative journalism team was formed to dig deeper into local stories and would uncover groundbreaking stories, from cronyism in building contracts to sexual abuse scandals. Many of its investigations have prompted significant changes. 

Gerard M. O’Neill, Thomas Winship, Ann Desantis, Stephen A. Kurkjian and Timothy Leland of The Boston Globe celebrate after receiving word that they won the 1972 Pulitzer for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting for their exposure of widespread corruption in Somerville, Massachusetts.

1966

The Globe is awarded its first Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its campaign to prevent the confirmation of Francis X Morrissey as a Federal District Judge in Massachusetts. The Public Service prize recognizes reporting which demonstrates a “measurable impact in the community” and is the only prize in the program that awards a gold medal. It is the most prestigious prize for a newspaper to win.

1958

After spending 87 years on “Newspaper Row,” the nickname for Downtown Boston’s Washington Street, which was the home to several Boston newspapers, the Globe moved into a brand-new headquarters in Dorchester. 

1877

Originally a daily morning paper, the Globe began Sunday publication in 1877. One year later, it started an afternoon paper called The Boston Evening Globe, which remained in publication for over 100 years.

1873

Founder Eben Jordan, the only remaining investor at the paper, hired General Charles H. Taylor, a 27-year-old Civil War veteran and former staff member for the Boston Traveler and a stringer for the New York Tribune, as a temporary business manager to turn around financial difficulties. 

After stabilizing the paper and setting it on a successful growth path, General Taylor was named  a partner and later publisher. Successive members of the Taylor family would serve as publishers of The Boston Globe until 1999.

1872

The Boston Globe was started by six local businessmen, including Eben Jordan (founder of the retail store Jordan Marsh, now Macy’s). The first issue was published on March 4, 1872 and cost 4 cents.


Publishers of The Boston Globe

2014 – Present: John Henry

2009 – 2014: Christopher Mayer

2006 – 2009: P. Steven Ainsley

1999 – 2006: Richard H. Gilman

1977 – 1999: Benjamin B. Taylor

1978 – 1997: William O. Taylor

1955 – 1977: Wm. Davis Taylor

1921 – 1955: William O. Taylor

1873 – 1921: Charles H. Taylor