Inside BINJ

RECOGNITION FOR RELIGION REPORTING

The kind of deep read that gets people and communities talking while winning awards in the process Congratulations to Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada and Claire Sadar on their receiving an honorable mention in the Associated Church Press Best of the Church Press Awards for the first two installments of their Sacred Writes

CHRIS FARAONE May 25, 2022

PUBLIC RECORDS CRISIS DEEPENS

The case pertains to an investigation into the use of rodenticides by government agencies You have five days to agree to give us $22,000, or else … While this may sound like an extortion note from a B movie, it’s essentially a newly state sanctioned proper response to a public

MAYA SHAFFER May 2, 2022

DigBoston box among the boxes of defunct newspapers in Union Square, Somerville. Photo by Jason Pramas. Copyright 2022 Jason Pramas.

EDITORIAL: NOW EVEN LESS NEWS IN SOMERVILLE

DigBoston goes digital-only, yet another reason to donate to the Somerville Media Fund (Somerville Wire) – It’s rare that a journalist writes an editorial about an editorial, but careful readers may note that the principals of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism—Chris Faraone, John Loftus, and me—also run the commercial

JASON PRAMAS April 19, 2022

EDITORIAL: SHIRA LAUCHAROEN SAYS GOODBYE

After a wonderful year serving Somerville, the reporter begins new steps Ever since I began my work as assistant director of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, I knew that I should be prepared for the unexpected. This local news project, the Somerville Wire, a publication of BINJ’s Somerville News

SHIRA LAUCHAROEN April 12, 2022

DONATE TO THE SOMERVILLE MEDIA FUND!

Somerville Media Center and BINJ join forces to create municipal foundation to support nonprofit community journalism There can be no democracy at any level without strong journalism produced in the public interest. Yet here in Somerville, as in communities across the nation, we are on the verge of losing our

KAT POWERS AND JASON PRAMAS April 5, 2022

Prototype "Medville Transnal" front page. Collage by Jason Pramas.

EDITORIAL: MEDIA CONSOLIDATION ACCELERATES IN SOMERVILLE

Gannett merges its Somerville Journal and Medford Transcript newspapers as BINJ’s Somerville News Garden project and the Somerville Media Center launch a new municipal foundation to fund local journalism Nearly three years ago, after hosting a community forum on the crisis in local journalism attended by 115 residents of Somerville,

JASON PRAMAS March 22, 2022

OPINION: TYING UP SOME LOOSE ENDS

Reflecting on the “Curtatone era” and Mayor Katjana Ballantyne’s time, so far While I realize that it’s possible that no one thought twice about something I wrote about Joe Curtatone in my last column, I regretted it immediately after seeing it in print on December 22. And I am not

KEN BROCINER March 11, 2022

BINJ HOLIDAY FUNDRAISER A SUCCESS

Raised over $40,000 thanks to our many supporters–and the work of our staff, board, journalists, and volunteers Finding funding for producing—or training people to produce or generally trying to “save”—journalism at the state and local level is no picnic. In the nearly seven years since Chris Faraone, John Loftus, and

JASON PRAMAS January 12, 2022

HOW THE COMMONWEALTH CONTINUES DRIFT AWAY FROM TRANSPARENCY

This is what happens when you try asking the second largest city in Mass and state officials to adhere to basic public records laws Across Massachusetts, today is actually tomorrow. Except in Worcester, where it’s already the day after tomorrow. But if that would make it the weekend, then

MAYA SHAFFER December 13, 2021

OPINION: GIVE US 100 DAYS TO PLAN FOR 100 YEARS

“Last month, the Planning Division released a 138-page plan, nominally produced by consultants, but heavily influenced by planning staff, that was somehow worse than the draft they had been entrusted with eleven months earlier.” By Mystic View Task Force, Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership, Green and Open Somerville, and Union Square

SEVERAL AUTHORS November 9, 2021