Faraone the Media

01/11/2024

It's not every day that people ask me the questions. Thanks to Dr. Caplan for taking the time ...

Since media is so screwed these days, we barely see any specialists. Even though specialists are what the world needs right now. So instead we get general outlets like the New York Times or Boston Globe weighing in whenever they feel like it, and often doing a bad job. A lot of people who see me as a media old guy around here think it's strange to see me on a beat at this stage of my career, like I should be above it, and I tell them that kind of thinking is the problem, along with the fact that there's not enough money in play to keep people on beats. Experience is a good thing. One of the biggest problems with the current press establishment is that, for a number of reasons, journalists don't stay in one place long enough to get their footing.

A Candid Conversation with Chris, Veteran Journalist and Co-Founder of Talking Joints Memo, on Navigating the Challenges and Triumphs of Covering Cannabis in the Northeast

24/10/2024

It’s no surprise that journalists are drawn to psychedelics advocates who stand against the psychedelics ballot measure. It’s the same zeal with which they embrace anyone who breaks from expectation and opposes something you would think they would support—take the example of nurses against the Nurse-Patient Assignment Limits Initiative in 2018, or rideshare drivers and service industry workers against referendums that could ostensibly help them on the upcoming ballot.

As much as I hate to give this much attention to Bay Staters just a few weeks before the election, with so much nonsense swirling, I felt that it was necessary to make clear who is behind this interesting unlikely advocate-oppo front. Otherwise, regarding the actual measure itself, considering the post-vote malleability, my position is to avoid overthinking it and simply vote yes. I know more about this stuff than all the bobbleheads and writers together who are giving blind credence to both sides, but I don’t take myself seriously enough to think that I know better than people who are trying to help others with psychedelics. You shouldn’t either. If this was the money grab that No On 4 fearmongers say it is, then that’s definitely news to cannabis executives who are cold on the question due to the apparent lack of profit potential.

It's no hallucination—the prohibitionists opposing Question 4 are using classic anti-marijuana messaging and duping journalists and voters

26/09/2024

Huge thanks to Mike Crawford of The Young Jurks for having me on tonight to discuss our new Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism collaboration with Invisible Institute about police accountability and the Massachusetts POST Commission.

As some of you may remember, Mike covered trees for me at the Dig and was actually one of the first BINJ columnists, covering the runup to legalization and ensuing drama under the name Mike Cann and writing "The Tokin' Truth" almost weekly.

And as many of you know, The Young Jurks has gained remarkable momentum in providing an agora and analysis around the Karen Read trial. I'm not covering that case specifically, but of course my team's reporting has addressed everything from outlaw cops to surveillance, all of which are relevant.

All that said, it was great to connect with his audience and share our work. I have been respectfully critical of some Read supporters not seeing the bigger picture, and this is me trying to show it to them. More coming on that front soon too, but in the meantime here's some not-so-easy listening for you ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az0TkdnIzWg

18/09/2024

This one is major for me. I have been a huge fan of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Invisible Institute since we started the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, and it was amazing that they reached out to us to provide the Massachusetts reporting on this national project.

As usual, the Bay State comes up short on police accountability. It's not just a Karen Read situation, folks, it's every department, every day, and it never ends. As for how much the accountability measures put in place are helping, you will want to read this.

In short: Massachusetts passed historic police certification reform. But even with the POST Commission, the public can’t see which cops have been part of the “officer shuffle.”

The feature is running in outlets across the state today, from The Shoestring in Western Mass, to Luke O'Neil's Welcome to Hell World, to hyperlocal weeklies, to transparency blogs. I am fairly sure the big outlets will ignore our important work as usual until they need to steal it, so we are going to need all of your help getting this out there ...

The lack of comprehensive employment history data in Massachusetts is driven home by the launch of a data tool for exactly that information from 17 other states this week

17/09/2024

Ten years ago, Buzzfeed longform was still a thing, and they hired me to follow the Boston Bandits for the entire season after their player, friend, and brother Odin Lloyd was killed.

People know I am a pro sports hater, so who better to plumb the depths of the little known world (and history) of semipro football?

The resulting feature, Bandit Brothers, is one of my best of all time I think, and the experience was a big part of why I wanted to start something like the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism - to go deep on the stories that people don't bother with but which are far more important than the stories and aspects of stories that get all the attention.

And speaking of which, I have not seen the Aaron Hernandez biopic nor do I plan on indulging. I know how to read, so I don't watch any biopics. But if you really care about this story, then I suggest you read my version before - or even instead of - watching the new Hulu garbage.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisf4c82a7988/a-season-with-the-toughest-football-team-youve-never-heard-o

08/09/2024

People always ask me if I'm jealous of the right-wing scoundrels who I have run up against over the years and who have made a lot more bank than me in independent media, have way more readers and viewers, all that stuff.

It should go without saying that I'm not, because if I cared about dough that much I'd just spit venom and hate speech all day and be a conservative millionaire - there's nothing easier. I could literally become that overnight, but I wouldn't, because that's not where my head is at and cowards and bigots get what they have coming to them.

Here's a short list of some of the goons I have known and their fates:

-James O'Keefe - Exposed as a sexual predator by yours truly, has more personal scandals than scoops, sued by adversaries as well as his own media company.

-Tim Pool - Disgraced useful skateboarding idiot and well-known Russian asset.

-Andrew Breitbart - Died hours after I tore his ass open on national radio.

-Matt Taibbi - The only actually gifted one of the bunch, dude may be the saddest puppet of all. I'm looking forward to the upcoming book by Eoin Higgins, How Tech Millionaires on the Right Bought Big Voices on the Left.

I guess I'm lucky in that I don't care about money enough to endorse racism and pure evil. But if you ever think that I have any regrets or jealousies about my place in the media, just consider the plights of these conservative success stories.

24/07/2024

It's hard to imagine a better article to show the difference between what we do at the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and what most commercial media does these days.

They rehash press releases, stand up for power, and ignore complicated stories. They often kill articles when they are told to, and rarely jeopardize access to athletes and celebrities.

We don't care about any of that stuff.

I don't think that Big Papi is evil, or bad, or even really anything more than your average businessperson looking for an easy check to add to his bank account. Am I surprised to see him capitalize on the clout that morons gave him after the Marathon Bombing? Of course not, he's basically a billboard.

And while I'm not yet sure if this will get picked up by no one or every major outlet, I can say that it is impossible to get people to pay attention to contract shenanigans that don't involve Hall of Fame sluggers, so this is a rare opportunity to get the public to actually care about the government spending everyone is always so worried about superficially.

Commonwealth seeks no-bid contract with David Ortiz-tied EV charger company

27/06/2024

Chris Faraone, a co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, was blunt about his sometimes adversarial relationship with Beacon Hill dating back to his days as a writer for the now-shuttered Boston Phoenix.

"In all of my forays into your lawmaking affairs, I have found few fans of Fourth Estate forensics under the magical dome where no official needs to fear a FOIA," Faraone said. "Yet despite all that, I humbly sit here seeking pity, not like a reporter groveling for grant money, because we are past that, but more like a diabetic who needs insulin or else."

Lawmakers heard about upheaval in the journalism industry from reporters, editors and publishers Wednesday. Some legislators signaled plans to convene a reshaped state commission this fall that would produce a suite of recommendations by the end of the year.

26/06/2024

Tomorrow (Weds) at 10am I'll be on Beacon Hill to testify about the "formation of a Journalism Commission, the state of the journalism industry in the Commonwealth and other matters relating to the continued operation of independent journalism."

My prepared remarks are below. We have a solid group of reporters and independent publishers lined up to speak, plus others coming just to flank us, but the more the merrier. If you want to join in any way, details are at the link at the bottom.

It's too late to sign up to testify virtually, but you can still submit written testimony, and/or if you go in person they will have a new speaking list there. Doors at 9:30am, party starts at 10. You can also stream it, and I'll be posting video of my testimony as well ...

Good morning legislators, staffers, colleagues, and any of the few remaining journalists in Massachusetts watching along from the back booth of a coffee shop that is their newsroom.

My name is Chris Faraone, and I am the editor of Talking Joints Memo, a for-profit site that covers cannabis, and a co-founder of the Massachusetts Media Fund, a 501(c)3 where I have been an editor and organizer for nine years. Operating as the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, we collaborate and publish with plus advocate for outlets all across the state.

I take no pride in asking this body, or anybody in this building, for help. Going back to my days as a staff writer for the dearly departed Boston Phoenix, I’ve seen the cracks in your culture up close, even spelunked some dark corners myself—from hand-recording votes by the Governor’s Council, which still has no digital records, to identifying hundreds of pieces of art and ephemera that were pilfered from these halls over centuries. In all of my forays into your lawmaking affairs, I have found few fans of Fourth Estate forensics under the magical dome where no official needs to fear a FOIA.

Yet despite all that, I humbly sit here seeking pity—not like a reporter groveling for grant money, because we are past that, but more like a diabetic who needs insulin or else. And now that I have set the mood, regarding the proposal to seat a commission to assess the ravaged landscape and potentially propose solutions, I offer three points to consider:

First — Apprehend the extent of the wreckage. Take all the devastating closures that many will testify about today, and multiply them by the countless gifted people who have been pushed out of the profession. Then square that by the millions in municipal ad dollars that Gannett ghost papers are gorging on, and you still won’t find a number that encapsulates the agony and despair we face daily in these jobs.

Second — Please seat a limited number of academics. While their perspectives are important, a body guided by idea mongers without skin in the current market is unlikely to move at a speed faster than bureaucratic to deliver results. If billion-dollar institutions like Harvard University (Shorenstein Center, etc.) and College of Communication, Boston University care so much about saving the journalism ecosystem—from beloved bootstrap culture sites, to the Spanish-language press, to nonprofit shops like BINJ—then I respectfully ask, Where the hell have they been all these years?

Third — Whatever comes of this, please do not forget about the smaller independents and our dedicated readers, many of whom can’t afford to access paywall sites and deserve more substance than corporate radio and television coverage provides. Massachusetts doesn’t need a white paper to rationalize handouts for the haves; nor should the already privileged be further prioritized. Rather, the people of the commonwealth would benefit from an effort that recognizes the remaining Fremen wandering this barren news desert as crusaders worth saving, and not as specimens for studying.

So while I do not personally seek a seat on the journalism commission, and frankly have my hands full at the moment covering the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, I admonish you to seat some actual stakeholders who demonstrably take actions to advance media causes beyond just their own.

Chris Faraone

More info here: https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/4961

Old DigBoston (RIP) image by Scott Murry

03/04/2024

In one of our biggest Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism features of the year so far, Dan Atkinson sounded alarms about a so-called Stingray device that Mass State Police were looking to purchase in order to intercept cell phone information.

The article did well, got shared a bunch, and was published by some of our partners across the state, but it wasn't enough to stop the staties from making the purchase with federal anti-drug money.

Now that it's already in their hands, the question is whether state lawmakers will do anything to put rules in place around these cell-site simulators. Here's our followup ...

Massachusetts State Police purchased cell-phone surveillance tech that civil liberties watchdogs say invites concerning violations of constitutional protections. Is it too late for privacy advocates and lawmakers to put accountability measures in place?

Massachusetts State Police purchased cell-phone surveillance tech that civil liberties watchdogs say invites concerning violations of constitutional protections. Is it too late for privacy advocates and lawmakers to put accountability measures in place?