BINJ Archives

Editor’s Note: BINJ Turns 11!

I am pleased to announce that the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism turned 11 years old this week! On June 30, 2015, Chris Faraone, John Loftus, and I met at a now-long-shuttered Cambridge bar and agreed to found BINJ. We had no nonprofit organization, no staff, no board, and no

JASON PRAMAS July 2, 2026

Editor’s Note: Low-Key Fundraiser, High-Key Need

We don’t go full court press at BINJ with our annual summer appeal to readers like you. Because low-pressure conversations fit the traditional spirit of the season. But it is a serious month-long effort on our part nonetheless … because the budgetary pressure on us remains high. As we wait

JASON PRAMAS June 18, 2026

Editor’s Note: Support The Cambridge Somerville Independent

Readers may be dimly aware that I’m releasing this note (and our accompanying BINJ.News weekly newsletter) later on Friday than I do most weeks. That’s because most of the BINJ staff and I were pleased to have been invited to table at an important event: IndieFest, a launch party and

JASON PRAMAS May 22, 2026

Remarks For The Alternative Press Panel At Izzy Fest 2026: Press Freedom Forum

On Tuesday, Chris Faraone and I were asked to join our colleague Brian Zayatz of the Shoestring as speakers on a panel about the alternative press by Project Censored and the Society of Professional Journalists. The text of my talk follows. It is odd to be called upon to put

JASON PRAMAS April 24, 2026

Editor’s Note: BINJ Starts Producing Short Videos

For a long time, the staff of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism resisted making short videos to accompany our journalism. As writers and editors, we got into this trade to try to cover issues of the day in the public interest—as we often say—to be tribunes of the people,

JASON PRAMAS April 17, 2026

Editor’s Note: On Local News Day, Sign Up For the BINJ.News Newsletter!

Today is Local News Day, a new holiday of sorts being celebrated for the first time this year. Its aim is to help make the general public more aware of all the mostly small news outlets that are trying to keep local and regional journalism in the public interest going

JASON PRAMAS April 9, 2026

Editorial: BINJ.News Seeks Opinion Articles From Iran War Street Protest Groups

On the latest episode of our weekly BINJ Live show on YouTube, Chris Faraone and I unpacked our thinking about covering various actions against the Iran War around Massachusetts being something we can reasonably do as local news publishers with no “boots on the ground” in any countries directly affected

JASON PRAMAS March 5, 2026

Editorial: BINJ Is In Great Shape … Until Late June

You’d think I wouldn’t be in fundraising mode in mid-February. At the moment, by our modest standards at least, the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism is doing fine. We raised $100,000 during our annual year-end fundraiser. Our new website and new database system are helping all our output from our

JASON PRAMAS February 20, 2026

Massive File From J6 Insurrection Trials Goes Live On Internet Archive

SAN FRANCISCO – The Internet Archive marked the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol as one might expect: launching an upload of publicly accessible materials from the trials of 1,575 defendants who took part in the attempted overthrow of America’s government to keep President Donald

MARC LEVY January 8, 2026

Editor’s Note: Happy Holidays!

On behalf of the entire Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism staff, board, and “intern army, ” I send our best wishes for a happy holiday and a most excellent new year to all our readers. As journalists, we may often report the worst, but know that we always hope for

JASON PRAMAS December 27, 2025