Globe to Shutter Crux Site, Shift Betaboston

By Hiawatha Bray
Boston Globe
March 11, 2016

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/03/11/globe-shutter-crux-site-shift-betaboston/WUkaMOikTz3nAoSEqKoEHO/story.html

The Boston Globe said Friday that it will shut down Crux , the newspaper’s online publication devoted to news and commentary on the Roman Catholic Church. Crux will halt publication on April 1, and several employees will be laid off.

In a memo sent to Globe employees Friday, Globe editor Brian McGrory wrote “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.” But McGrory added, “We simply haven’t been able to develop the financial model of big-ticket, Catholic-based advertisers that was envisioned when we launched Crux back in September 2014.”

McGrory said that the Crux site will be handed over to associate editor and columnist John Allen, a veteran reporter on Catholic affairs. McGrory said that Allen “is exploring the possibility of continuing it in some modified form, absent any contribution from the Globe.” Crux editor Teresa Hanafin will stay in the newsroom, probably at bostonglobe.com, the paper’s online home.

In addition, the Globe’s stand-alone technology news site, BetaBoston, will be merged with bostonglobe.com, which requires a subscription for full access. Until now, BetaBoston has been free.