The Boston Courant

The Boston Courant was a weekly newspaper in Boston, whose coverage focused on issues of local interest to the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Downtown, Fenway, South End, and Waterfront neighborhoods. It had a circulation of over 40,000.[1] The Boston Courant announced its closure in February 2016 after losing a wrongful termination lawsuit.[2][3] In April 2016, the former publisher debuted the Boston Guardian, with similar editorial content and neighborhood coverage.

The Boston Courant
TypeWeekly newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)David Jacobs
Genevieve Tracy
PublisherDavid Jacobs
EditorJennifer L. Miaola
Founded1995
Ceased publicationFebruary 2016
HeadquartersP.O. Box 171018
Back Bay Station
Boston, Massachusetts 02117, United States
Circulation40,000

An African-American newspaper by the same name was founded by George Washington Forbes in 1890 and discontinued some time after 1900.[4]

Establishment

Publisher David Jacobs created the Boston Courant (as the Back Bay Courant—the newspaper later expanded its coverage to include the South End, Bay Village, Fenway, and Beacon Hill) in 1995, with his wife Genevieve Tracy as associate editor. In a Boston Globe article,[5] Jacobs stated that the Courant experienced double-digit growth from 2008 to 2009.

Sections

The paper introduced a real estate section in 2008, named "Open House". Later renamed the "Real Estate Guide", the section featured editorial copy and advertisements from Boston real estate agents as well as maps of upcoming open houses.

Online

In 2004, the publisher, David Jacobs, paid a web designer $50,000 to put the newspaper online, but the site never launched due to the lack of a profitable business plan. Jacobs believed that if the Courant had a website some of the readers would abandon the print format, crippling profitable advertising sales.[1]

Successor publication

In April 2016, the previous publisher of the defunct Boston Courant debuted a reborn publication under the new banner of the Boston Guardian, serving the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Downtown, Fenway, South End, and North End/Waterfront districts of Boston. The new publication's title stirred up some controversy over the alleged appropriation of a historic journalistic name.[6][7][8]

References
  1. Borchers, Callum. "The Boston Courant: Proud not to have a website until the owner sees "a profitable end game"". Retrieved 2012-05-08.
  2. Jacobs, David; Tracy, Gen (February 5, 2016). "The Boston Courant Is Shutting Down". The Boston Courant. Courant Publications, Inc.
  3. Back Bay newspaper's famous refusal to put up a Web site has driven it out of business | Universal Hub
  4. Rummel, Jack (2014). "Forbes, George Washington (1864-1927): editor, civil rights leader, community activist". African-American Social Leaders and Activists. Infobase Publishing. pp. 72–73. ISBN 9781438107820.
  5. Diaz, Johnny, "The Weekly Battle: Alternative papers, like big dailies, cut back as ad sales slip", The Boston Globe, March 4, 2009
  6. Conti, Katheleen (April 25, 2016). "Boston Guardian publisher criticized for using the name of a former African American weekly". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  7. Leung, Shirley (April 22, 2016). "Publisher of shuttered Boston Courant launches new paper". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  8. Hoover, Amanda (26 April 2016). "Boston weekly comes under fire for taking name of former paper". Boston.com. Retrieved 2016-07-18.

Further reading
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