Since before we even published our first feature, we set out to use BINJ as an incubator to produce and distribute longform reporting. While our team has also taken on other big challenges, from teaching to advocating for journalism, we are proud to have fulfilled our mission to pursue the kind of comprehensive stories, often investigative, that fewer outlets are able to publish in today’s troubled media climate.
As part of our retrospective celebration of BINJ entering its tenth year, we hit the archives for some of our most impactful, popular, and memorable articles. Recognizing how hundreds of them intersect topics, we picked nearly 250 of our favorites and parsed them into 13 categories: Education; Labor; Housing & Gentrification; Police & Surveillance; Prisons & Parole; Transit; Environment; Politics & Government Accountability; Immigrant Communities; Music, Arts & Sports; LGBTQIA+; Opioids & Other Drugs; Massachusetts History.
We are posting these compendiums by category weekly through the end of January 2025, and it’s not just for posterity. We hope that seeing the fruits of our labor in this light inspires you to support BINJ to do more of this work; the greatest hits in these roundups alone add up to two features a month over a decade, and they are in addition to hundreds of columns and shortform articles from projects like Somerville Wire and Manchester Divided.
Finally, you can also help by telling us which topics and investigations you think we should follow up on in the new year. Check out the list below, then find our quick engagement survey near the bottom of the post.
The Thirsty Games (March 24, 2016) By Haley Hamilton
An exploration into the sordid history of Boston’s modern prohibition
Internally Bleeding (February 24, 2016) By Alejandro Ramirez
Allen Curry was the victim of an unspeakable attack at the hands of fellow Boston firefighters. Decades later, his struggle endures, as does the BFD’s diversity problem.
Special Rejection (June 5, 2016) By Chris Faraone
Election officials can’t stop this East Boston activist from running for State Senate
Massroots (July 28, 2016) By Patrick Cochran
The relatively short but nonetheless inspirational history of Boston for Bernie
The Incalculable Election (Non-Prophets) (April 1, 2017) By Brendan McGuirk
America’s Top Political Analysts Explain: It’s Not Their Fault
PSA DOA (July 31, 2018) By Claire Sadar
Mayor Walsh’s Islamophobia campaign won plenty of press, but had little impact
Crippled Epistemology (August 9, 2018) By Jonathan Riley
Boston researchers have spent years helping government agencies plan and simulate operations to troll potential terrorists. Despite controversial practices and lackluster results, the covert operations continue.
The Case For Katja Novin (October 30, 2018) By Sarah Betancourt
Will the healthcare system save this patient’s life, or end it?
Fire Sale Pt.11/2 (November 22, 2018) By Chris Faraone
Digging deeper into the abyss of reckless unchecked state spending on guns and ammo
Law-Abiding Citizens (January 23, 2019) By Daniel Kaufman
For black gun advocates in purple Mass, criticism comes in red, white, and blue
Dilapi-Davis Square (March 7, 2019) By Lynne Doncaster
Somerville residents squawk about the state of infrastructure, deteriorating public art
Case Open (A Fire Sale Follow-Up) (March 26, 2019) By Curtis Waltman
Connecticut high court ruling opens up Mass gun seller to Newtown lawsuit
The Mum Fund (April 10, 2019) By Dan Atkinson
Tough questions following an audit of a charity meant to help Bostonians in need
Fire Sale Finale: Big Bang Theory (May 5, 2019) By Minh Do, Chris Faraone, Noel Gasca, Olin Hayes, James Kwon, Abigail Noyes, Alisha Parikh, Autumn Pattison, Selah Pomeranitz, Amanda Rasinski, Max Reyes, Madison Rogers, Riane Roldan, Adrien Salzberg, Tay Thai, Curtis Waltman
Gun laws, limits, and licensing in Mass—in perception and reality
Kraft Group Among Businesses Selling PPE To Mass W/ No-Bid Contracts (August 18, 2020) By Dan Atkinson
While not all of this spending is coronavirus-related, it’s easy to see how some vendors have found new opportunities with the pandemic.
Inside The No-Bid Contracts Mass Is About To Enter For COVID Saliva Tests (August 25, 2020) By Dan Atkinson
“We are still only a fraction of what Gov. Baker projected where the state should be testing per day per week, we need to be ramping up significantly.”
Data Analysis & Report: The CoronaVirus Crisis In Massachusetts Long-Term Care Facilities (September 5, 2020) By Nicole Aschoff and Pankaj Mehta
Why did Massachusetts’s nursing homes fail so profoundly? And how can we prevent this from happening again?
Politically Connected Consultants Win Large COVID School Contracts In Mass (November 1, 2020) By Dan Atkinson
Like the state government’s contract for no-bid saliva tests, the contract with McKinsey was issued without going through the standard bidding process
Gaining Ground (December 20, 2020) By Claire Sadar
With Islamophobic Trump in rearview, Muslims mobilize politically
More Multi-Million-Dollar No-Bid COVID Contracts For Massachusetts (May 5, 2021) By Dan Atkinson
Tasks have included advising on vaxx rollout and making a “playbook” for “high-risk” communities
Mass Seeks To Create AI Task Force, Won’t Publicly Name Appointees (August 18, 2021) By Dan Atkinson
“This body does not seem to be centering issues related to accountability, justice, racial discrimination or other forms of bias.”
The Pandemic Payday Continues — For Consultants (April 12, 2022) By Dan Atkinson
Mass uses questionable tools to investigate eviction relief applicants
“This Is Illegal Behavior” (August 24, 2022) By Andrew Quemere
Mass GOP candidate questioned by cop about book she calls kiddie porn
Parks & Checks (March 20, 2023) By Colman Herman
Wasteful, Opaque Bookkeeping At Two City Of Boston Nonprofit Arms
The Power of Big Papi (July 24, 2024) By Dan Atkinson
Commonwealth seeks no-bid contract with David Ortiz-tied EV charger company
Researching The Massachusetts Governor’s Council (July 26, 2024) By Jean Trounstine
A three-part series that includes an original data set on Massachusetts judicial appointments culled from hundreds of paper files
