Jason Pranas, who watched the pandemic take down the Weekly Dig, today announced the start of a new, and non-profit statewide news site: HorizonMass: "A new general interest, statewide, digital news publication with the tagline 'independent student-driven reporting in the public interest.' "
Besides its Dig roots, the site also has its origins in the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, which Pranas and Chris Faraone founded.
Dig Editor Chris Faraone reports on a call he got yesterday from some TV producer all hot to get his reporters on a new TV show with William Shatner called "New Frontiers in Agriculture." Now, you might think the Dig wouldn't have much insight on new frontiers in agriculture, and you'd be right: The producer finally allowed as how Shatner would come and interview the reporters for the show after Faraone paid a $28,000 fee for the privilege. You can guess his answer.
Down in the basement of Boston City Hall, near an ATM and the entrance to the men's room, is a set of newspaper racks for Boston's free weekly newspapers - including an old Phoenix rack now used by the Dig.
Or as she called it last week, the Big Dig, whose reporting on the racist history of the Red Sox she didn't much care for.
The Dig is offering $500 in gift cards for information leading to the arrest, or just public shaming, of whoever is destroying its newsboxes in Downtown Crossing.
The announcement comes after years of pretty much every media outlet in town cutting back on arts coverage.
DigBoston News Editor Chris Faraone writes they hope to take over operations from Jeff Lawrence, who announced a couple months back he was looking to sell Boston's remaining alt-weekly/Web site.
Jeff Lawrence, owner of the Dig, alerts readers he's getting ready to pass the paper onto "the next generation:"
One thing I’m considering very seriously, though, is selling the business to a non-profit and making the paper a not-for-profit venture. Not that it ever generated a profit anyway, but the idea that independent journalism should be free and unfettered from ad dollars is extremely appealing to me, and I imagine the reader as well.
The Dig tells Dan McCarthy it's not him, it's them:
"The decision to restructure our core operations and in the process temporarily eliminate the editor position in no way reflects on Dan’s talent, commitment to producing great journalism, and overall quality of work since he came on board," said founder and publisher Jeff Lawrence.
Something tells us Chris Faraone at the Dig won't be going out for (espresso) shots with the boys from the BC football team anytime soon.
It’s true that the media is typically biased toward alpha males, and has looked the other way as thousands of them have been marginalized in the press; but if we learned anything from today’s report in the Globe, it’s that Division I athletes are some of the most oppressed people among us.
The Dig itself finds its visual comment on the last week's upskirting news to be bad-ass cover art.
Jess Critcher begs to differ:
Ugh what's up with @DigBoston's creepy cover art? #upskirt + #mbta is gross & scary, not "bad ass."
This is a real problem! Please don't trivialize #streetharassment
Lots of changes announced at the city's sole surviving alt weekly.
Former Phoenix staffers Liz Pelly and Faye Orlove last week launched the Media, which they hope can alt up the Hub again, initially online, maybe some day in print. Even though they're online, they'll be following a print-like publishing schedule:
[S]oon you'll find photo essays and video footage documenting creative communities around Boston; zine reviews from librarians at the Papercut Zine Library; a forward-thinking "Know Your Rights" column covering everything from dealing with bad landlords to throwing house shows. We'll have horoscopes, comics, and mixtapes.
Pelly adds:
Whoever stole a one-of-a-kind, artist-designed Weekly Dig news box had better hope they don't run into Joe Curtatone in a dark alley.
Clover, the non-meat food truck and Harvard Square restaurant, takes exception to being put in a Weekly Dig "Best of" li
Phoenix Editor Carly Carioli has a short reply to the Dig item - which we, being good little media sponges, sucked
It's in the Dig's Media Farm this week, so it must be true, right?
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