Jason Pramas Archives

WHAT IS THE SOMERVILLE WIRE?

BINJ staff and Somerville News Garden volunteers have not undertaken this effort to compete with existing or future news outlets in Somerville. We are simply working on creating a replicable model that cities and towns around Massachusetts and the US can use to stop their municipalities from turning into “news deserts,” in the parlance of journalism academics.

JASON PRAMAS February 23, 2021

Screenshot of MA journalism commission law text

JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA ADVOCATES TO SUGGEST PICKS FOR MA JOURNALISM COMMISSION SEATS

A joint press release by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and Free Press Action

BOSTON INSTITUTE FOR NONPROFIT JOURNALISM February 10, 2021

Laura Kiesel and Jordan Frias testify at the second journalism commission hearing, July 10, 2019. Photo courtesy of Sarah Betancourt.

GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING KEY TO PASSING JOURNALISM COMMISSION LAW

Journalists mounted unusual lobbying effort to help beleaguered local news outlets

JASON PRAMAS February 7, 2021

Washington Street, Newspaper Row (in Boston a century ago)

HELP SAVE LOCAL NEWS! ASK YOUR MA STATE REP TO BACK AMENDMENT #40 TODAY!

[W]e’re asking all readers who are concerned about the collapse of local news media to contact your state representative and ask them to cosponsor Amendment #40 of H. 4879. The more cosponsors the amendment has, the more likely House Ways and Means will pass it. If that happens it has a good chance of making it through the full legislative process for this session. And becoming a law. Which would be a promising outcome for the future of local news in the Commonwealth.

JASON PRAMAS July 26, 2020

HOW TO TALK TO YOUR FAMILY ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Including a sample Q&A that you can modify for use with your own family For most of us who pay close attention to the progress of the coronavirus pandemic over the last three months, talking to our families about how to stay safe and healthy can be difficult. People don’t

JASON PRAMAS March 27, 2020

ANNOUNCING THE BINJ PANDEMIC DEMOCRACY PROJECT

Funding 100 local news articles covering Boston area communities during the coronavirus crisis

JASON PRAMAS March 21, 2020

SOMERVILLE NEWS GARDEN MOVING FORWARD

Launching new programs to help revive local journalism It has been just over a year since my Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and DigBoston colleagues and I organized the Somerville Community Summit to give area residents a chance to speak for two minutes each to 15 journalists about what

JASON PRAMAS March 4, 2020

Lynne Doncaster speaking to Somerville News Garden event. Photo by Derek Kouyoumjian

SOMERVILLE NEWS GARDEN HOLDS FIRST PUBLIC EVENT

Seeks more participation from Somerville residents It has been nine months since DigBoston and the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism partnered with the Somerville Media Center to organize an event asking Somervillians what kind of coverage was missing from their city’s remaining news media. The February 2019 Somerville Community

JASON PRAMAS November 6, 2019

THE MOST DANGEROUS SQUARE MILE

The centuries-long relationship with Boston that made Chelsea a frontline community for environmental justice

SUREN MOODLIAR September 18, 2019

A CLIMATE FIGHT FOR THE AGES

After four years of struggle, Weymouth activists continue to challenge the fossil fuel industrial complex

ITAI VARDI September 18, 2019