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Globe reporters, editors mobilize to aid home delivery teams

By Globe staffMay 16, 2016, 2:29 a.m.
Globe reporter Steve Annear ran to deliver a newspaper in Somerville. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff/Globe Staff

Scores of Boston Globe editors, reporters, photographers, and other employees worked late Saturday and early Sunday across eastern Massachusetts to assist delivery crews in making sure subscribers received their Sunday newspapers.

The Globe switched to a new delivery company, ACI Media Group, on Dec. 28, and customers have since reported issues receiving newspapers.

Globe reporter and columnist Bella English worked at the Pembroke distribution center on Sunday.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

Missing papers prompted an outcry from readers, who vented on social media and overwhelmed the Globe’s phone system with complaints.

“We apologize for the disruption,’’ chief executive Mike Sheehan said in an interview last week. “We know that people depend on us every day.”

In a note to readers posted online Wednesday, the newspaper said it would offer full refunds to customers for papers that went undelivered. It also was updating links on the web site to assist with customer service, executives said.

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The Globe’s online news site has not been affected by the delivery lapse. But that was little solace to many readers who prefer the newsprint version of the paper.

By Wednesday, 95 percent of home-delivery subscribers received their papers, Sheehan said, but the Globe failed to reach the other 5 percent on a timely basis.

ACI Media has been building a network of 600 contractors in Massachusetts and verifying routes to bring the Globe to the doorsteps of 115,000 customers on weekdays, and more than 205,000 on Sundays. Some drivers are joining from the prior vendor.

The Globe also sells tens of thousands of additional papers at newsstands every day, and recently invested in a new printing plant in Taunton.

Globe photographers Jessica Rinaldi, left, and Bill Greene worked in the pre-dawn hours to deliver newspapers in Cambridge. Dina Rudick/Globe Staff/Boston Globe
Reporter Josh Miller carried his suit and a bundle of Sunday newspapers to the State House as he arrived for an interview after spending the early-morning hours help with deliveries. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Reporters Michael Rezendes, Meghan Irons, Laura Crimaldi assembled newspapers for delivery.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff/Globe Staff
Globe employees Sean Murphy and Paula Bouknight worked to get newspapers ready for delivery. Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff
Globe newsroom employees received instructions on assembling and delivering the paper early Sunday at a Newton distribution center.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff/Globe Staff
Reporter Katie Johnston (center) assembled newspapers for delivery.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff

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