In 2023-2024, The Boston Globe leveraged all its digital tools to provide meaningful journalism that enhanced and enriched people’s lives. The story formats and platforms varied widely. But at the heart, we were dedicated to centering the community, surprising and delighting readers, and affecting change.
Sometimes, it was a big sweeping narrative, that stepped back from something readers thought they knew and revealed a bigger truth. In Boston, Faneuil Hall sits in the city core, the centers of city government and justice surrounding it. The man for which the hall was named was a slave trader, and the story and graphics prompted reflection.
Other times, it was being in the community and reflecting them. When Beyoncé came to the Boston area, we wanted to showcase the talent and creativity of the attendees, how they feel seen by her music, and how they expressed themselves in their outfits. The comments on the Instagram post show an outpouring of love for the recognition: “I love that this black joy was reported on!” “Black joy was felt here seriously thank you for giving us our voices and letting us be seen and heard❤️” “Thank you so much for featuring usssss”
We did graphic explainers on roadway shutdowns – not the sexiest topic, but urgent and important for those adjusting their days because of closures. We are dedicated to giving people the information they need to live their daily lives.
We are also experimenting with deeper community engagement. We know that the cities of Cambridge and Somerville don’t have a lot of hyperlocal new options, even though they abut Boston. We invested more resources to not only cover hard news, but also showcase the quirkiness of these places. We launched a newsletter to connect with new readers, and provided them with ample outlets for giving us their thoughts and feedback.
Then we swung big with investigations, in different ways.
One was a highly graphic-oriented piece on the blight that are housing prices from the storied Spotlight team. It dug into who is at fault and the full scope of the issue, and allowed readers to see how squeezed the region is on housing. We simultaneously centered the voices of residents, who have to make tough living decisions without a lot of options.
The other was a narrative, visual, audio, and digital archive that re-examined a cold case that tore apart the city in 1989: A young white man named Charles Stuart alleged that he and his wife were car jacked in a predominantly Black neighborhood. After his wife and unborn child died, the city’s raw nerves were laid bare along the fault lines of race, class, crime, and punishment. We unveiled surprising new findings, examined the Globe’s own coverage, and changed the narrative long cemented in Boston’s lore.
