John Henry in 2800 words explains just why he bought the Boston Globe

*I have been asked repeatedly in recent weeks why I chose to buy the Globe. A few have posed the question in a tone of incredulity, as in, “Why would anyone purchase a newspaper these days?”

Truth is, I prefer to think that I have joined the Globe, not purchased it, because great institutions, public and private, have stewards, not owners. Stewardship carries obligations and responsibilities to citizens first and foremost — not to shareholders. This is especially true for news organizations.

* I didn’t get involved out of impulse. I began analyzing the plight of major American newspapers back in 2009, during the throes of the recession, when the Globe’s parent company, the New York Times Company, considered shutting down the paper. As I studied the problems that beset the newspaper industry, I discovered a maddening irony: The Boston Globe, through the paper and its website, had more readers than at any time in its history. But journalism’s business model had become fundamentally flawed. Readers were flocking from the papers to the Internet, consuming expensive journalism for free.

* There isn’t a clear financial model for the news business in the future. Thus, some people have expressed puzzlement about this investment because they expect that the purchase of a business is based on the pursuit of profit. But this investment isn’t about profit at all. It’s about sustainability. Any great paper, the Globe included, must generate enough revenue to support its vital mission.

Put another way, the future of vibrant journalism — trustworthy news coverage, informed opinion, and fearless accountability reporting — is dependent on solving tough financial issues. This is a bit of an irony, because I haven’t met anyone in the business whose main reason for being there is to make money.

* Make no mistake: The Boston Globe will survive. There is too much talent at the paper, too much passion among its readers and advertisers, too glorious a history, and too great a need for its journalism, to ever think otherwise.

* I have been driven by causes in almost every major endeavor in my life, beginning when I was a 16-year-old in Southern California where I wrote and published my own newspaper.

* Since Aug. 3 I have been meeting with the people of The Boston Globe to define our mission at the beginning of our journey together. This much is clear: The overriding mission of The Boston Globe will be to ensure that its readers are getting news they can trust. The Globe will place its emphasis on hard-hitting, investigative accountability that readers can rely on. Not only will the Globe seek to hold people and institutions accountable for their actions, we will hold ourselves accountable for fairness, balance, and fact-checking.

* Back when I was an idealistic 18-year-old, I might have believed that being on the side of virtue would guarantee a good outcome. These many years later, I know better. We will succeed, but it will take long hours, creative thinking, and hard work ahead.

* Today, reliable information has never been more valuable. A newspaper needs to provide the breadth of perspective and diligent analysis that gets to the heart of what is going on in our world. The Globe will never be the prisoner of any ideology or political agenda.

*A major job of the Globe will be to determine not only what news will be of interest to its readers, but what news should be of interest. Every day, the Globe will have to earn the trust of readers who can’t possibly harvest all the information available across the spectrum; they have to be able to rely on the Globe, through all its platforms, to inform their lives in the areas they want and require.

* We will provide what we will call the Globe Standard when it comes to curated links that will ensure our readers do not waste their time when they click on news, reviews, writers, columnists, ecommerce, events, opportunities, and social engagement from any of our platforms.

* The new-media landscape is chock full of opinions, from every Twitter account to Facebook page to political website. Yet there is often very little fresh thinking to find amid all this clutter. Providing meaningful points of view that matter to our lives, through our columnists and informed editorials, is a crucial part of the Globe’s mission.

* In this era, it’s easy to attract an audience with a provocative opinion — especially a predictably partisan one, or an outrageous attack. The Globe’s primary mission is not to generate such an audience, but to inform its own audience.

*If there is one thing I have learned in the world of business it is that just about everyone who predicts the future turns out to be wrong. The crystal balls of human beings are flawed because we live in an extremely dynamic world.

* So predictions about the future of newspapers are going to be wrong and I will not add to that. What I believe is this. TV didn’t put an end to movies or radio despite predictions to the contrary. And the free availability of news and classifieds will not put an end to newspapers.

*Newspapers are going to compete against an avalanche of information that should make reliability, trust, and hard work that much more valuable for audiences. Nevertheless, until revenues stabilize, newspaper resources will need to be allocated carefully, to build and sustain the economic foundations necessary to carry out the journalistic mission.

Henry concludes by addressing the readers directly, “ It is up to the Globe and to you to be partners in the future of this region. Contribute through letters, comments, op-eds, events you want sponsored, advertisements, blogs, charities, and, most of all, ideas — this is a city of ideas. Contribute and all of us at The Boston Globe will fight alongside you for the role this community has to play in shaping the world our kids are going to inherit.

“Let us inspire them to want to follow the lead of our hearts, resolve and accomplishments.”