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On Sunday, The Boston Globe ran 16 pages of death notices. And on Monday, for the first time since 1897, the Boston Marathon isn’t taking place. Because of the coronavirus, it’s been delayed until September. But on Sunday and Monday, the Globe celebrated the people of Boston and their perseverance with an ad campaign and fundraiser called #BostonStillRunning.
Here’s the video, narrated by John Krasinski.
“From the beginning of the pandemic, we at the Globe have had a front-row seat witnessing the many ways our community members have stepped in to help during this crisis: our journalists have been reporting stories from across the city and region about neighbors helping one another, restaurants providing food for healthcare workers, relief funds being raised for people in need,” said Boston Globe Media Partners managing director, Linda Henry in an email.
The campaign includes two full pages for readers to color/decorate/make their own and sends them to Serving Our Front Lines, a project led by the Globe that sends food from local restaurants to area health care workers.
The campaign was created to pay special tribute to frontline workers, said BGMP’s chief commercial officer, Kayvan Salmanpour, in an email, and to show solidarity.
“The Boston Marathon means so much to our city — it’s an annual outpouring of solidarity, support, and celebration, and we knew that we wanted to keep that spirit alive this Patriots Day at a time when our community most needs it.”
Salmanpour said he hopes the campaign, produced with Boston-based agency MullenLowe U.S., will be “a rally cry to keep cheering for healthcare workers and other essential workers who are keeping us safe. We hope it inspires Bostonians to find ways to stay connected and to support those in need. We hope it inspires pride and love for our city and our neighbors. I, for one, have never been more proud to live in Boston and to support this community.”
If you’re missing the marathon today, the Globe also pulled together some of its best moments.
Kristen Hare covers the transformation of local news for Poynter.org and writes a weekly newsletter on the transformation of local news. Want to be part of the conversation? You can subscribe here. Kristen can be reached at khare@poynter.org or on Twitter at @kristenhare.
This daily look at coronavirus coverage by local news and resources for them is made possible with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
