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Metro columnist Brian McGrory has been named the new editor of The Boston Globe. McGrory’s appointment follows the departure of Marty Baron, who left to become Executive Editor of The Washington Post.
In a story announcing his appointment, McGrory says, “What I want is more digging, more narrative journalism, more reporting that holds people accountable and more enterprise stories on the front page.”
McGrory was a paperboy for the Globe, Christine Haughney reports in The New York Times, whose parent company also owns the Globe. Globe publisher Chris Mayer praised McGrory’s ability to “inspire the talent and attracting and retaining the talent.”
Globe staffers were informed of McGrory’s appointment by email. Thursday, they were live-tweeting his subsequent introduction to staff as the boss:
Brian McGrory enters newsroom in suit and tie, newsroom BURSTS INTO APPLAUSE
— Martine Powers (@martinepowers) December 20, 2012
#McGrory jokes he’s had more meaningful conversations with Chris Mayer over the last few weeks than he did with his first wife. Lolz.
— Martine Powers (@martinepowers) December 20, 2012
McGrory recalling days as Globe paper boy with 52 customers on route, recalls how parents cried seeing his first byline
— Shirley Leung (@GlobeBizEditor) December 20, 2012
Average Sunday circulation at the Globe rose from 360,186 in Sept. 2011 to 372,541 in Sept. 2012, according to the Alliance for Audited Media (formerly the Audit Bureau of Circulations). Average daily circulation rose from 205,939 to 230,351 over the same period. Both increases count subscribers to the Globe’s digital edition. The paper launched its paid site, BostonGlobe.com, in September 2011.
The increases come after a rough period for the paper, financially and staff-wise, Haughney reports:
Mr. McGrory is stepping into a drastically changing job at the newspaper, which is owned by The New York Times Company. A newsroom that once was staffed by 370 people has decreased in size by roughly 40 percent over the past decade.
The Boston Phoenix’s Peter Kadzis guessed the two main contenders were Globe Managing Editor Caleb Solomon and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editor David Shribman.
Baron will take over at the Post in January.
In related news, Baron’s Boston house went under contract after five days on the market, Boston Business Journal’s Thomas Grillo reports.
In a video on the Globe website, McGrory said working at a newspaper is “the only thing I ever wanted to do, and oddly enough the only place I ever wanted to do it was at the Boston Globe.”
Here’s the press release about McGrory:
Brian McGrory, a 23-year veteran of The Boston Globe who led groundbreaking coverage of corruption as an editor, and writes with depth and texture about the region as a columnist, has been named the next editor of The Boston Globe, effective immediately.
Mr. McGrory, 51, will report to Christopher M. Mayer, Globe Publisher. A Boston native, he will be charged with running the newsroom for The Boston Globe and BostonGlobe.com and the newsroom’s contribution to Boston.com.
- Brian McGrory
“Brian has distinguished himself throughout his career at the Globe as a reporter, editor and columnist and as a native of Boston, he is the ideal candidate to lead the Globe’s newsroom,” said Mr. Mayer. “Brian will continue to emphasize the accountability reporting that has been the Globe’s trademark, combined with narrative storytelling that gives readers a strong sense of our unique community.”
“This is a great honor to guide the Boston Globe news operations, since I grew up delivering the Globe, then reading the Globe, and later writing for the Globe,” said Mr. McGrory. “It is also a great honor to work with my colleagues and build on what I believe is the best metro newspaper in America.”
Mr. McGrory joined the Globe in 1989 as one of the first reporters hired into the South Weekly section. Since then, he has covered the city of Boston as a general assignment reporter, served as White House correspondent, and as a roving national correspondent. In 1998, he became a metro columnist, and quickly made his mark as a must read. He was named associate editor in 2004.
In 2007, he was named deputy managing editor for local news. He led the metro staff in a comprehensive investigation of corruption and cronyism on Beacon Hill that eventually led to resignations and indictments.
Governor Deval Patrick and the State Legislature passed a pension reform bill after an investigation by the Globe revealed public pension abuses, coverage that brought Sean Murphy recognition as a finalist for the Goldsmith Investigative Reporting Prize by the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University. Under McGrory, the newsroom also reported extensively on a city system that bestowed benefits on favored developers.
He directed wide-ranging, sensitive coverage of Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s struggle with brain cancer, his death, and his funeral.
McGrory steered the metro staff to new levels of narrative journalism, stressing the value of vivid and detailed storytelling in an era when consumers have many media choices. An 8,000-word narrative about a pair of sisters who died in an arson fire in South Boston after years of neglect won the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism and led to widespread reforms in government services for children.
After nearly three years as metro editor, he resumed his twice-a-week metro front column, where he has regularly enlightened readers about the quirks and character of the community and held public officials and business leaders accountable. He is the author of a memoir and four novels.
“During his tenure as metro editor, Brian built a strong team of reporters and editors and imbued the newsroom with a competitive spirit. Day after day, Brian and his team delivered award-winning journalism, in print and online,” Mayer added.
McGrory was raised in Roslindale and Weymouth. He received a B.A. from Bates College in Maine, and worked early in his career at the New Haven Register and The Patriot Ledger in Quincy.
Here’s the announcement sent to staff:
I’m delighted to announce today that Brian McGrory is our next editor of the Boston Globe, effective immediately. Brian has distinguished himself throughout his career here, and I believe he will provide the vision and inspiring leadership that we need to continue the Globe’s tradition of quality journalism.
Brian built a strong team of reporters and editors during his tenure in the newsroom – a team that regularly beat the competition on major stories. He led the staff in a comprehensive investigation of corruption and cronyism on Beacon Hill that eventually led to resignations and indictments. The newsroom also reported extensively on public pension abuses and a city system that bestowed benefits on favored developers.He brought a new level of narrative polish to our pages, stressing the value of storytelling in order to make the Globe a must read in an era when consumers have many media choices. As an editor, and as a columnist, Brian values exhaustive reporting combined with vivid, detailed writing to create stories that evoke empathy, emotion, and even laughter.
Brian joined the Globe in 1989 as one of the first reporters hired into the South Weekly section. Since then, he has covered the city of Boston as a general assignment reporter, served as White House correspondent, and as a roving national correspondent. In 1998, he became a metro columnist, and was named associate editor in 2004.
After nearly three years as metro editor, he resumed his twice-a-week metro front column, where he has enlightened readers about the quirks and character of the city and the region and has held public officials and business leaders accountable. He is the author of a memoir and four novels.
McGrory was raised in Roslindale and Weymouth. He received a B.A. from Bates College in Maine, and worked early in his career at the New Haven Register and The Patriot Ledger in Quincy.
Please join me in the Link at 4:15 p.m. today to congratulate Brian.
Thank you.
Chris
Christopher M. Mayer
Publisher
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