journalism Archives

BROKEN MEDIA, BROKEN POLITICS

If Mass journalists were doing their jobs, Baker would not be so popular May 1, 2018 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS It’s always funny to hear that Charlie Baker is a very popular governor… The most popular governor in the country at the moment, according to polls. Because

JASON PRAMAS May 1, 2018

RETRO POP: LOOKING BACK ON TWO YEARS OF BINJ POP-UP NEWSROOMS

How our nonprofit newsroom starts its listening by popping up where people live and play When summarizing my first two years of running a nonprofit journalism shop in Boston, I often use the spot-on aphorism that necessity is the mother of invention. That’s the best way to explain how, before

CHRIS FARAONE January 30, 2018

TEMPORARY RADICALS? DISAFFECTED DEMS NEED TO STAY IN THE STREETS AFTER THE GOP MENACE IS BEATEN BACK

November 27, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS There is little agreement on the broad American left. But the ascension of Donald Trump to the top of the political heap caused a virtual panic from the most conservative corporate Democrats to the hardest core anarchists and communists. Which resulted in a

JASON PRAMAS November 27, 2016

PIN THE SALE ON THE DONKEY

How BINJ kicked off the cold months with a reader engagement carnival Three months ago, the team at the BINJ decided to throw our most ambitious event yet. In the past we’ve had fundraisers at watering holes, hosted community panels on various topics, and set up pop-up newsroomsacross Boston and Cambridge — and for our second

BINJ ONLINE November 14, 2016

DEMOCRATIZE AMERICA: THE FIGHT TO SAVE THE NATION AND THE PLANET DOESN’T STOP ON ELECTION DAY

November 8, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS This is not a dream. For your whole life, you’ve seen images on screens showing brutal political struggles in faraway places like Ukraine and Yemen. And in the rare moments you’ve paid attention to the suffering you’ve seen, you’ve asked yourself, “How could

JASON PRAMAS November 8, 2016

UMASS CAMBRIDGE: MAKING HARVARD UNIVERSITY PUBLIC WILL SOLVE ITS WORKERS’ PROBLEMS—AND THE COMMONWEALTH’S HIGHER ED CRISIS

October 24, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Three weeks into their strike, Harvard University dining hall workers are in a difficult position. Their union’s demands for better wages, benefits, and working conditions are falling on deaf ears in the Harvard administration. They cannot continue picketing indefinitely on $200 weekly strike

JASON PRAMAS October 24, 2016

FIGHT WHERE YOU STAND: ORGANIZING FOR DEMOCRACY ON THE JOB CAN SPARK A MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRACY NATIONWIDE

IWW Demonstration. New York (1914) October 13, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS In a month featuring a couple of significant labor actions in the Boston area—the Harvard University dining hall workers strike for better pay and benefits, and the Boston Carmen’s Union’s recent civil disobedience action against privatization at the

JASON PRAMAS October 13, 2016

PLAY TO WIN: UK LABOUR PARTY LEADER SHOWS THE AMERICAN LEFT HOW TO MOVE BEYOND SYMBOLIC POLITICS

September 29, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Last week—as is the case many weeks every fall and spring in Boston—notices of small scripted protests by an array of area progressive nonprofits, unions, and student groups got me thinking about the rut the anti-corporate American left has been stuck in for

JASON PRAMAS September 29, 2016

MEDICINE FOR A MENDICANT MEDIA: Government support can revive American journalism

July 25, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS [Note: This is the full version of this article. A shorter version ran in the print edition of DigBoston— also dated July 25, 2016.] Journalism is in a tough spot. There are tens of thousands of trained journalists in the United States, but a dearth

JASON PRAMAS July 25, 2016

LIMITED DEBATE: BOSTON CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS SOCIALISM AS CORPORATE MEDIA BLOCKS NEEDED DIALOGUE

Image by Tak Toyoshima April 13, 2016 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS There was an interesting exchange last week between Sen. Bernie Sanders and General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt. In an interview with the editors of the Daily News, when asked for “a sense of corporate America, as the agent of

JASON PRAMAS April 13, 2016