Boston Globe Special Sections Are Serious Ad-ditions

As the hardreading staff plowed through yesterday’s Boston Sunday Globe, we were struck by all the special sections it featured: Chill, Longwood: A City Within the City, and 11 Ideas from Boston 2014.

That last stood out because of what was printed at the top of each page:

 

Screen Shot 2014-11-10 at 1.19.16 PM

 

Close-up for the bifocal set:

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There were ads sprinkled throughout the “Special Supplement,” such as this one:

 

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But we think the whole section is an ad – at least that’s the implication. Here’s another clue from an inside page:

 

Screen Shot 2014-11-10 at 1.30.50 PM

 

The other two sections – Chill and Longwood: A City Within the City – are run-of-the-mill news sections designed to be ad magnets in particular categories.

Longwood first.

 

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Representative ads:

 

Screen Shot 2014-11-10 at 1.16.30 PM

 

 

Screen Shot 2014-11-10 at 1.17.21 PM

 

Then Chill.

 

Screen Shot 2014-11-10 at 1.17.43 PM

 

This section was an absolute ad bonanza. Representative samples:

 

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Screen Shot 2014-11-10 at 1.18.14 PM

 

Our prediction: Look for lots more of this in the future, especially the “Special Supplements.” Maybe next time the Globe bean counters could be a little more transparent about what they’re serving to their readers.

7 Responses to Boston Globe Special Sections Are Serious Ad-ditions

  1. […] the hardreading staff noted, that’s “Special” as in “Advertising,” which the Globe would have […]

  2. […] comes on the heels of last week’s new sections Chill and Longwood: A City Within the […]

  3. […] Globe has been rather – how shall we put it? – ad-aptable lately with UMass, from a special supplement masquerading as editorial content to, most notably, the pimping out of the Globe banner last […]

  4. in the know says:

    in the know

    Boston Globe Special Sections Are Serious Ad-ditions | It’s Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town

  5. […] the hardreading staff noted, that’s “Special” as in “Advertising,” which the Globe would have stated explicitly if it […]

  6. […] Over the past months, the hardreading staff has repeatedly noted the increasing presence of lucrative – and corrosive –  advertising by the University of Massachusetts in the Boston Globe, from co-opting the paper’s front page to bugging its banners to mimicking its editorial content. […]

  7. […] Globe, on the other hand, has only flirted with native advertising up to now, as in this bit of UMass marketing from a few years ago. Given the evidence of the past week, though, the $tately local broadsheet […]

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