Remembering The Boston Herald's Near Shut Down

The Boston Herald produced a video to mark the 30th anniversary of its near shut-down and eventual purchase by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and it provides a nice little window into a time when Boston’s two-daily newspaper regime was threatened (also, sadly, to a time when the prospect of a newspaper shutting down likely seemed more notable.) It features interviews with columnists Joe Fitzgerald, Margary Eagan, and Howie Carr and recounts the negotiations between Murdoch and the paper’s unions.

Of course, if we zoom out a bit, we remember how the Murdoch era ended 12 years later. From a February 1994 Boston Globe article (accessed via Lexis Nexis):

Patrick J. Purcell, publisher of the Boston Herald, said yesterday he would buy the newspaper from media magnate Rupert Murdoch and would sharpen its focus on crime, education and business issues.

Purcell, 46, who has run the tabloid since 1984, will pay between $ 15 million and $ 20 million for the paper, which consistently lost money under Murdoch, according to people familiar with the deal. He will receive financing from the Bank of Boston and Murdoch.

Purcell said the paper had turned a profit the previous year. But then, that wouldn’t be the last time people have painted differing pictures on the well-being of the Boston Herald.