Boston Globe Cuts Catholic News Site

Boston, MA - In another money-saving move, The Boston Globe is axing its standalone Catholic news site, Crux, and laying off reporters there.

According to an office memo published online Friday by Northeastern University journalism prof Dan Kennedy, the Globe is shuttering Crux not for lack of an audience, but advertisers.

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The memo, from editor Brian McGrory and managing editor David Skok, reads in part:

"We’ve made the deeply difficult decision to shut it down as of April 1—difficult because we’re beyond proud of the journalism and the journalists who have produced it, day after day, month over month, for the past year and a half.

... The problem is the business. We simply haven’t been able to develop the financial model of big-ticket, Catholic-based advertisers that was envisioned when we launched Crux."

According to the memo, Crux editor Teresa Hanafin will remain with the Globe. Other members of the staff may not have so soft a landing, as the memo mentions an unspecified number of layoffs. Meanwhile, Crux reporter John Allen has taken to Twitter to reassure readers the publication will survive, at least in some form.

The memo also notes the Globe is pulling local innovation and technology vertical, BetaBoston, behind the paper's paywall, rather than a standalone site. This "save(s) more than a few dollars on the maintenance of the external URL," according to the memo, and constitutes "the next logical step in the natural evolution of the site."

>> Photo by Alison Bauter, Patch staff