Yes I read about this also when the Globe restructured their news department a few months ago. Emily Rooney of Greater Boston TV show had a discussion about it. All the round table participants on her show couldn't believe that the Globe was getting rid of some of the best parts of the paper -- Thu home/garden section and revamping their arts section. Home and garden is now called 'Style' something or other. I bet Carol is staying on until her book tour is over. The Sunday Globe many years ago got rid of their garden section (I guess that was the first step). One of my favorite parts of the paper! And now the Thursday section. I used to buy the paper on Thursdays for this section (for the photos, etc.) and the Calendar section. Too bad!

I miss Carol Stocker as well. She graduated from high school with my husband, (I've met her) same class. So while she is maybe too young to retire. I guess a buyout is hard to refuse. Perhaps she will be touring, promoting her upcoming New England gardening book, (she has a beautiful garden) which I plan to purchase. I think the lack of a garden column will hurt the Globe. I wonder if it has affected attendance at the Flower Show as she always did a few features on the show? Hopefully, she will still do some articles as a freelancer. At the very least, I hope she'll join in Gardenweb discussions. Gardening is big business these days and especially in New England where you can't take the weather for granted.

In the glory days, they used to have TWO garden columnists--Thalassa Cruso (the Julia Child of gardening) and George Taloumis, and often something by a free-lancer as well. All of this was on Sundays. I really wish I had seen that Greater Boston show, Sedum37. Sounds very informative. I am a 7-day a week subscriber to the Globe and it is incredible how many features have disappeared over the last five years. The internet has hit the newspaper business very hard--classified ads gone and so on. But I agree with hostasz6a that gardening is big business and wonder why the Globe can't run a gardening article along with ads for nurseries etc. once a week. After awhile, I wonder what I am still getting for my money.

Ginny,
The Greater Boston web site lets you watch old shows. I haven't done it but I found the one on the Globe. See this link. At the bottom of the text there is a way to view the clip.

Here is a link that might be useful: Boston Globe Buyout...

Thanks so much for that tip, Sedum37. I will definitely watch it tomorrow but am leaving now for flower show for day and evening.

I miss her too and was wondering why she had suddenly disappeared...the "Life at Home" section was one of the only reasons we used to subscribe to the Globe. Now that section of the paper seems more like a glossy fashion/style magazine...

We now subscribe to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and I really enjoy Paul Rogers' weekly column.

The Globe has let a lot of their longtime writers go. The difference is quite apparent in many fields besides gardening. They seem to be hiring newer writers who probably get paid less. I am sure they are trying to capture younger readers because so few in their 20s and 30s read a newspaper, according to what I've read. They look at headlines online or they watch Jon Stewart or they don't read at all. But in the process the Globe, NYT etc. are losing their existing readers, just as they did you, Ellen_S.

I am shocked to read that the globe is doing away with the home/garden section, as I just attended the NE Flower Show and the Globe had a big subscription table there! The irony!

Note to Ginny12: some of us in the forum are in your derided demographic. On whole, declining ad revenue is a bigger problem for print newspapers than loss of subscription base... think about it, could that 50C per copy (or less for promotional subscriptions) really cover the cost of 24-7 writing, editing, layout, the cost of paper and ink, distribution and delivery? BTW, the NYT has a lovely enhanced version on line, available by subscription... to which I subscribe. If paying for web access would keep the Globe's quality up, many people would subscribe to a web service (not currently offered).

Anyway... I did enjoy Carol Stocker's column, and hopefully they will keep the garden columns coming in some form. Perhaps a fresher writer would be less apt to, for example, recommend plants that are listed on the NE Invasive Species list... which was a pet peeve of mine with CS...

Passiflorakae, I was not deriding a demographic. I was just referring to a phenomenon that has been widely reported in newspapers and in business news sources. Ad revenue is a significant factor, no doubt about it, but so is a lack of interest among so many in their 20s and 30s. And the "closing of the American mind" in general. Check out the poll reported a few days ago that showed far more people could identify all five cast members from The Simpsons than the five freedoms protected in the First Amendment. I am digressing but to bring it back to gardening, compare an issue of a magazine like Horticulture from 20 years ago with a copy today. Lots of photos and ever-decreasing text and information.

I read about the buyout some time ago. It seems that Carol Stocker will occasionally write freelance articles for the Globe, but so will other garden writers from the region.

The Thursday garden features and Gardener's Week were the main reason why I used to buy the weekday Globe. Now I only get the weekend editions, and stopped reading the weekday editions entirely. There's nothing to draw me in without gardening content.

media crit meets garden web. Good stuff.

I liked the article, but garden web is better- I mean hands down.. right? Am I alone.

I think this thread of dialog is the proof. Add it to the composting and winter gardening forums and you have some powerful journalism.
Now adays the newspapers have spread thin, so Carols article was skin deep. I enjoyed it because like Mass- or warm brownies it was familiar and comforting. I will miss it. But it was thin. Indepth discourse (like i crave about gardening) happens in hyper-localized venues. It is 2006. Most magazines and Newspapers are shifted into a more tabloid reporting sytle. sounds like the globe made a business decision, even if garden web dis-approves. It is not like the Herald or Metro run an alternative.

The Globe is a great paper. I'm proud to have it in my home.

I wouldn't call the Globe a great paper, but it's a good one. The business decision seems to be to switch the focus on younger, hipper, affluent urban readers. That's perhaps where the money is, but it's naturally going to leave out a lot of us. Old favorites such as the Living/At Home garden topics and Confidential Chat have gone the way of the stay-at-home wife and "middle-middle class" generation.

The nursery and green industry is lamenting the attrition from the gardening hobby and interest in "puttering" in the yard. This trend is changing the face of the entire society. The green industry sees flat sales. The newspaper industry sees less interest in suburban and rural pasttimes and more interest in cutting-edge entertainment technologies, urban home interiors and fashion.

Those of us who love gardening can't help but feel the effects. So, I get my news online on the Associated Press website, which is basic and uneditorialized. I get my local town paper to see what's happening in my community. The Globe I read only on Sunday for the regional section and comics (Opus, For Better or for Worse) in color.

I wouldn't call the Globe a great paper either but I have read a lot of the big dailies across the country and it is better than most, tho going downhill the last few years. A glance at today's Style section is further evidence of their desperate attempt to bring in younger readers. The lead article, with color photos, is about large tattoos on young professionals. I don't think that's a tactic that's going to work.

And Carol Stocker is in this week's section--with some photos from the flower show and captions for each. Not much meat for real gardeners but I'm sure that's what she was told to produce.

Cady, gardening is a mixed bag. Last spring was a disaster for nurseries because of the weather and perhaps sales in some quarters are flat. But look at groups like the Garden Conservancy and their tours. Or the many historic gardens which once languished and are now restored and quite gorgeous. And the many specialty nurseries that attract avid gardeners. Don't you think there is good news too? I devoutly hope so.

I am like Cady. I just get the Sunday paper for many years now. I also get the local paper that comes out once a week. The local paper is mostly to keep up with what is going on in the town politics, times of town meetings, important votes, and of course read the funny police reports! There is still something with getting the Sunday paper and sitting down at my kitchen table with some nicely brewed coffee that I still enjoy!

Technology is changing and we can't stop it. Think with the advent of the automobile think of the whole economy based on the horse and buggy. All those manufacturers that made products for horses saw a huge drop off in their business. The same appears to be happening with the traditional paper.

Ginny,
Of course I see the good, along with the "depressing." lol
Garden magazines are numerous, which means that someone is supporting them. Still, I see fewer young people getting excited about gardening. The country continues to urbanize, so maybe we need to bring horticulture onto a more urban plain by encouraging community gardens, classroom windowboxes and urban 4-H. If only there were funding and lots of volunteers. Ah well. Think global, act local.

Sedum, I laughed when I saw your mention of the "funny police reports." That's one of the first things I turn to in my local paper. Where else can we get such great entertainment such as reading about police pursuing angry raccoons?

Interesting discussion...definitely demographics and lifestyles have impacted the content and presentation of newspapers...reflecting the fast paced society we have become. I never had time to read a daily newspaper when I worked full-time in an office. Only since working full time at home have I had the luxury of having my morning "cuppa" over a real newspaper.

I also laughed about reading the Police Report in the local paper..our old local papers have also become homogenized but the Police Report always gives me an idea what's going on in town :-)

I suppose we will all confirm our fears and we typically find only what we seek. If you want to belive that gardening is less popular, or that the globe is an average paper- it would be easy to confirm that with investigation. I do think Garden Web is a much better way to get gardening info- That was my main thrust.

I guess i am coming from a different angle. I am comparing items, Globe vs other papers. Garden web vs Globe gardening articles. The globe is a great paper (to me) because they have a valid editorial staff and great washington DC office. What I mean is that they still produce indepth, new- news. Not many papers do that any longer. This is the era of Fox News. Ick.

I see no evidence that Gardening is on a downward trend.
Home depot, Lowes, Walmart, They might change the market, but (again my opinion) that proves that there is a larger market than there used to be. I venture to say that there are more gardeners now than there ever were, they are growing flora that my parents never knew about, and they can find better information in 20 minutes of research online then they could from reading 20 years of Boston Globe Thursday gardening articles.

Still- perhaps they are less sophisticated. I live in Franklin, and the town library has wonderful historical films on VHS, and Dahlia's and Rose gardens were pretty well represented in some of the back yard images. those gardens were very impressive.

Today is not "better", just "different". I have many 30 yr old friends that garden, they do so for the same reason people did it in the films. Gardening is good for you. It always will be good for you.

The New York Times had a piece, a fiew months ago, that reported on the flat sales in the garden retail industry. People, Places, Plants had a very similar story in a newsletter it produces for professionals (I'm in the "green industry") that gave a sobering look at the trend of younger North Americans away from getting their hands dirty.

On the positive side, indications are that young affluent families - while they don't have time to garden - want attractive garden spaces and are willing to hire horticulturists like me to come take care of their perennials and to plant annuals and maintain container gardens. So, they want the garden - they just don't want to or can't take care of it.

This means that there will be incentive some people to cultivate :) their gardening skills and use them to make a living. And, nurseries and garden centers will still be able to keep going - they'll just need to get on top of the trends and carry the plants that people want.

Every industry undergoes change. It's those who adapt to the new circumstances that find different ways to succeed.
But meanwhile, the Globe and other big newspapers, which have to appeal to a broad audience, seem to believe that their future lies in catering to the chic, moneyed urbanite who is more interested in flat screen televisions than peonies.

If anything the Globe hopes its readers will have hired help, including gardeners, to take care of "that stuff." They don't expect their readers to be gardening. That's sad, but maybe reality will prove otherwise, and the editorial powers will restore garden themes to their pages.

I clearly am not alone missing Carol's column. It has left a hole in my Thursday morning routine. While occasionally I felt like she phoned it in - mostly I think she was a wonderful writer (in some non-garden articles as well). I think the Globe had been after her for awhile and cant blame her for finally taking the early retirement (others did it much earlier). I feel like the paper is becomming very tepid and homogenized. To me the attempt to appeal to a younger generation seemes forced and exactly what turns us...maybe not me any longer...off. I have been thinking I could exploit the mgmt's misreading of what will sell a paper and pitch a new garden column called "Pimp My Garden"

Maybe the fact that the New York Times owns the Globe has a lot to do with these changes. The Times is focused on the young, affluent urbanite and now they are shaping the Globe to do the same. They likely hope that what works in the huge New York metropolitan area will work in Boston and its surrounding 'burbs.

The NYT has definitely had an impact on the Globe. There have been any number of articles trying to refashion Boston into a NY image or comparing Boston to NYC in a negative light. I also see material recycled from the NYT--not the same words and not the same day but definitely unsettlingly familiar. Another cost-cutting measure. I read the NYT online every day and have noticed this. I'm not a NY-hater. Am actually a fifth-generation native of the Big Apple. I'm fond of it and visit often but I live in Boston for a reason--a more livable place. Plus, vive la difference!

Hey, lay offa New York! The Times still has its garden column, plus that Q&A feature on Thursdays, doesn't it? I wouldn't mind finding that material recycled in the Globe, as I occasionally miss it at work on Thursdays.

Hey, New York is full of city gardeners, some of them well-known (Ken Druse, Linda Yang, Keith Davitt) so the NY Times has to respect the demand for garden columns. If they yanked it, likely all the nth-generation New Yorkers with balconies, garden apartments and rooftop gardens would scream bloody murder.

But Boston doesn't have that clout. We're getting walked over like we're some second-rate burg that needs to have "culcha" whopped into it. Poo.

Great thread...thanks. I had been wondering what had happened to Carol Stocker's column and the whole Thursday section, which was my favorite. I dislike the new Globe Style section just as much as I dislike the NY Times Sunday Style. And, as a transplanted native New Yorker, it's depressing (but inevitable, for all the reasons cited above) to see the Globe being remade this way.