Boston Globe reporters hand deliver newspapers
Dozens of newsroom volunteers hit the streets Sunday morning to deliver thousands of papers
It took ink, sweat and maybe a few tears, but thousands of Boston Globe subscribers got something extra at their doorstep Sunday morning when their papers were hand-delivered by the Globes very own reporters, editors, photographers and other staff members.
The unique operation saw a band of dozens of newsroom volunteers go from reporting the news to personally delivering them after snags with a new delivery service left some readers without their papers.
The employees reported to the Pembroke distribution facility around midnight Sunday where they began bagging and collecting the morning reads.
The idea of Globe reporters pulling duty as delivery men and women came up during a recent meeting and started off as a joke, Globe crime reporter Evan Allen told The Huffington Post Sunday.
As soon as it came up, people started really liking thing idea, Allen said.
Plans developed quickly and organically, driven in part by what Allen characterized as a spirit of camaraderie in the tight-knight newsroom but also a sense of duty to the Globes readers.
It was hard to listen to people saying they were subscribers for 30 years and were not getting their paper, Allen said. We felt really bad about that.
Come delivery time on Sunday, the Globe staffers commitment apparently paid off.
One of the reporters said they were delivering to an elderly housing complex, Allen said, noting the Sunday paper deliveries took place overnight and in the early morning hours. Reporters said as soon as people heard the paper thump down on the door, they picked it up. They were waiting for it.
Armed with flashlights ahead of sunrise, they scoured the streets looking for address numbers -- making Allen fear customers would think they were burglars.
Instead, some of the very bylines printed throughout the paper appeared at its readers doorsteps, including metro reporter Milton Valencia, whose name graced the front page.
Though readers didnt know when their paper would arrive, or by whom, they didnt hide their eagerness on social media.
Should I leave out cookies and milk for whatever reporter is delivering my he decision to use a volunteer delivery staff followed the Globes switch to delivery vendor ACI Media Group, the paper reported.
Globe CEO Mike Sheehan, in an interview with the paper last week, said that 95 percent of home delivery subscribers received their papers Wednesday but that 5 percent were missed.
In a note included with subscribers papers on Sunday they noted that delivery by editorial staff is clearly not a long-term solution -- but we hope you can be patient as our top administrators sort
things out. HaFfington Post
