The NYT Co. has threatened to shutter the Boston Globe if the paper's union doesn't accept serious cutbacks. So Globe reporters hit the streets to find old people who read the Globe, and quote them:

Who loves the Boston Globe? Educated people:

"It'd be a tragedy if the Globe were to close," said Steven Locke, 45, a Melrose lawyer and father of two boys, who once was a Globe paperboy in Newton.

Salt-of-the-earth people:

Gonsalves said he likes the editorial page, which he said stands up for people like him: "I'm a little guy."

Important people:

"To someone like me who's very involved in civic life in the communities, it's unimaginable," said Paul S. Grogan, president of the Boston Foundation, calling the Globe the "civic glue" that keeps the public together.

Unimportant people:

"That's too bad they're going to close the Globe," said DeVito, 68, a car salesman.

Unexpected people:

"I'll tell you what, I'm a meat-eating, God-fearing, gun-toting, right-wing conservative white male, and proud to be that way," said McDonough, a 41-year-old hardware store manager. "But I do read the Globe to see how the other side thinks. That's important. Knowledge is power."

Young people:

Fifth-grader Connor Locke piped up. "When Obama won, we saved the newspaper," the 11-year-old said. "And when Papi hit the 52 home runs, I framed that and I have it hanging on my wall."
His mother beamed.
"Can't frame the computer screen," she said.

And sad, sad, old people, like 70 year-old Daniel Doyle:

"If you took the paper away and I can't read sports, what am I getting up in the morning for?" he asked.

Let's hope the paper, at the very least, outlives Mr. Doyle.
[Globe; Pic via Flickr. To be fair, there's no way the paper can win, writing this story. Still.]