Boston Globe Publisher Addresses the LaWare Leadership Forum.

BOSTON -- Boston Globe publisher Richard Gilman yesterday articulated the continuing importance of the role of newspapers in creating a dialogue around civic engagement even in the face of what he described as "two powerful forces - customization and personalization - (that) are occurring at the expense of the shared experience."

"These forces serve one's personal interest very well. They may serve the public interest less well," said Gilman, citing the increased number of people who use the Internet and other forms of electronic media.

Speaking at a special session of the Boston College Citizen Seminars, Gilman cited the theme of Robert Putnam's book "Bowling Alone" and went on to note that "increasingly individuals seem to be isolating themselves, often in front of a screen of some sort."

The publisher, who addressed the LaWare Leadership Forum, a civic leadership initiative funded by the Boston Foundation under the leadership of Boston Federal Reserve Bank president Cathy Minehan, Sovereign Bank chairman John Hamill and Boston Foundation president and CEO Paul Grogan, argued that newspapers - and other forms of mass media - remain important voices in the civic debate because of their ability to reach hundreds of thousands of people at the "very same time."

But Gilman, whose newspaper endorsed the work of the LaWare Forum in an editorial yesterday morning, acknowledged that "virtual communities are forming via the Internet. People are yearning for connection, but the connections are not geographically defined as they once were. People are finding others with the same interests and opinions as their own --- but the others could be located anywhere.

"It could lead to new vibrant communities that will help revitalize social and political exchanges in all kinds of exciting ways," he said.

Acknowledging those changes, he said "we're in the information business even more than we are in the newspaper business. Newspapers will survive a good long time but, even so, newspapers printed on newsprint are not the object."

"The information we report will reach the public in any number of ways. We'll be downloaded, logged onto, as well as picked up from the driveway. We will be flexible, aggressive even, in reaching the audience in whatever way it takes."

He said that neither the newspaper nor the city is "served by standing still" and urged the audience to move forward "because you are the ones who get things done." "What I can guarantee you," Gilman said," is that our reporters will be here to cover it, our editorial writers will be here to influence its shape, the Globe will be here to communicate it to all who care."

The Boston Globe is part of The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2005 revenues of $3.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers, nine network-affiliated television stations, two New York City radio stations and 35 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.