Boston Globe Reporters Double Duty

Darren McCollester, Getty Images

Boston Globe editors, reporters play paperboy for a day - In the journalism business these days, you can wear many hats. And that was never more apparent than early Sunday, when a band of journalists hit the polar streets of Boston to deliver copies of the hometown paper they helped produce.

The Boston Globe had been battling an avalanche of complaints from readers over absent editions when the paper switched to a new delivery company, ACI Media Group, on Dec. 28.

The Globe posted a message to readers online Wednesday, which was updated Saturday night, offering full refunds to customers for papers that weren't delivered. "We have added extra staff to our call center and are working around the clock to improve our responsiveness," the note said. "We thank you for your continued patience as we work through this disruptive but important transition."

By Wednesday, 95% of home-delivery subscribers received their papers, Globe Chief Executive Mike Sheehan said. For the remaining 5%, frustrations mounted. The Globe's digital site was not affected by the snafus.

The Globe delivers newspapers to 115,000 customers on weekdays, and more than 205,000 on Sundays. The paper, founded in 1872, has won 23 Pulitzer Prizes since 1966.

The current movie Spotlight, released in November, tells the story of the Globe's investigative unit of reporters who doggedly uncovered and documented the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. The investigation won a Pulitzer for public service in 2003. The staff was also awarded a Pulitzer in 2014 for its coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings.

For many, the Globe is just their beloved hometown paper. For those readers who value ink in their hands – and especially the large Sunday edition – the newsroom jumped into action late Saturday. Dozens of reporters, editors, columnists and digital producers helped bag and bundle papers before hitting the road and their assigned paper routes, GPS in hand.

In some cases, those who helped write and edit the edition were the same people dropping the paper on readers' doorsteps in the wee hours.

Globe crime reporter Evan Allen posted a photo on Twitter of metro reporter Milton Valencia, who had written a front-page story – and delivered the paper.