THE MOST READ BINJ FEATURES OF 2019

BY BINJ ONLINE

It’s not really our style to show off the “most read” or “most viewed” stories of the year. In a perfect world, outlets would spend this time publicizing articles that did not get as much as exposure as they deserve.

At the same time, even as we encourage BINJ readers and contributors to check out all our features and to at the very least watch our year-end wrap-up video (below), it’s important to celebrate the stories that really caught the attention of the public, in some cases not just in Greater Boston but far away from our home base as well.

We also built a new site this year and brought on several new publishing partners, so it’s great that these and other features were shared and viewed tens of thousands times between this and other platforms. Of the 28 features we produced, though, these were the top performers on binjonline.org.

10 – 40 years ago this month, Fred Clay was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. After 38 years behind bars, he’s telling his story and writing another chapter.

9 – Gun laws, limits, and licensing in Mass—in perception and reality

8 – Consultants told Mass State Police how to avoid turmoil. The department ignored the advice and spent the following two decades spiraling toward boundless corruption.

7 – Who oversees parole in Mass? What motivates decisions? Does the outcome help the Commonwealth? Will the addition of another career prosecutor tilt the Mass parole board away from second chances?

6 – Mass State Police and local law enforcement have spent millions amassing an arsenal of Tasers, but there’s minimal accountability for those doing the purchasing, or for those doing the tasing

5 -Among the nightmares of an unprecedented epidemic, sex work gets more dangerous for opioid addicts

4 – The makers of Suboxone have the Bay State on a leash

3 – There’s much more to the State Police scandal than is being reported

2 – For more than 50 years, Metco has stood as a hallmark effort to address racial disparities in education. But for the progressive civil rights program to keep pace with the national dialogue around race, inequality, and white supremacy, stakeholders say it’s time to reexamine and recommit to Massachusetts’ once-radical program.

1 – Will New Bedford finally find out what happened to Malcolm Gracia?

Thanks for reading and please consider this:

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BINJ not only produces longform investigative stories that it syndicates for free to community news outlets around Massachusetts but also works with dozens of emerging journalists each year to help them learn their trade while providing quality reporting to the public at large.

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