Open Media Boston

metro news from the ground up

Home / Editorial

OMB Editorial

Become an Open Media Boston Cooperator and Support Community News Media!

21 July 2010 - 11:32pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

Greetings, Open Media Boston viewers. Just thought I'd take advantage of a slow news week to talk shop with you all. As some of you may recall, several months ago I announced that we were working on starting up a cooperative to help encourage social investment in this community news publication. So I thought I'd give you all an update, and ask more folks to get involved on the ground floor in advance of our coop launch. By way of background, a coop is basically a democratic form of business that a progressive enterprise like this one can organize without getting all weird and sell-outty.

ACLU Right to Protest Potentially Censorious Changes to Mass. State Law

14 July 2010 - 11:56pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

This week the Open Media Boston inbox has been echoing with alarums from various civil liberties organizations - the Mass. Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union at their forefront - about a law that Gov. Deval Patrick signed back in April that would levy harsh penalties against those who somebody or other decides have disseminated material harmful to minors. The legal changes contained in the new law modify existing language in everyone's favorite section of the Mass. General Laws ... Chapter 272 ... a.k.a.

FY 2011 Mass. Budget: The Needle and the Damage Done

7 July 2010 - 11:39pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

Almost 40 years ago, Neil Young wrote a song about the destruction caused by heroin use among many musicians he knew at the time. It was called, fittingly enough, "The Needle and the Damage Done." Although such music is far from what I listen to these days (chillout, lounge, hip-hop, and classic jazz ... among much else ... for those of you who might be interested), the song title popped into my head when I sat down to write my editorial on the latest chapter in the Mass. state budget disaster.

Congratulations to the Student Immigrant Movement

28 June 2010 - 3:33pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

A word of congratulations is due this week to the brave young organizers with the Student Immigrant Movement for maintaining a 24/7 presence in front of the Mass. State House for 19 days until they managed to help stop the legislature from pulling off one the more pathetic displays of poll-driven politics in recent memory and convince them to reject the worst provisions of a package of anti-immigrant proposals that the Senate added to their budget proposal with very little debate last month. Not to say that this publication is overexcited about what has been achieved.

Immigrant Advocates Must Change Strategy to Win Comprehensive Immigration Reform

18 June 2010 - 11:58pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

OK, folks, time for a think piece. It's going to be a bit of a wild ride compared to some of my more straightforward editorials, but I felt the need to develop some ideas this week at a bit more length than normal. Because some discussions just can't be truncated. So in this piece I'm going to argue that immigrant advocates (from both immigrant and citizen backgrounds) are going to keep losing important battles in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S.

More Pain Proposed for Working Families in Mass. Senate FY 2011 Budget Proposal

11 June 2010 - 11:55pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

As the global economic crisis continues, Massachusetts lawmakers continue to follow the neoliberal playbook as slavishly as their federal counterparts - slashing programs that help working families and the poor to the bone, and refusing to raise taxes on the rich and corporations to help keep vital social services at reasonable levels. So, as has become our tradition here at Open Media Boston during the annual state budget debates, we're taking a look at the proposed cuts in the final Mass.

Help OMB Staffer Diana Mai Replace Her Stolen Photo Gear

4 June 2010 - 10:25pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas and the OMB Staff

Dear Open Media Boston community,


Last week our ace staff photographer Diana Mai had all her camera equipment (and a Dell laptop) stolen from her Mission Hill apartment. Boston Police believe the thief jimmied the old latch on her back door or simply came in one of the ground floor windows her landlord has thoughtfully refused to upgrade for the last two years.

This is Massachusetts Not Arizona! All Out to Defeat the Anti-Immigrant Senate Budget Amendment.

28 May 2010 - 10:52pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

Words cannot describe the contempt in which this publication currently holds the Mass. Senate for their disgraceful vote to kick our state's immigrant communities to the curb this week. More disgusting still is that one of the six sponsors of the Senate budget amendment in question is a Democrat - Sen. Steven Baddour (D - Methuen) - who has suddenly decided that "we have an illegal immigration problem here" despite being a leader in a political party that is generally pro-immigrant 'round these parts. The good senator is of Lebanese ancestry ...

Open Media Boston Seeks Summer Interns

25 May 2010 - 8:16am | superuser
by Jason Pramas

Greetings, all. Just a note in advance of this week's editorial to mention that we still can still use a couple more summer interns here at Open Media Boston. Prospective candidates should have some demonstrable writing, photography, and/or multimedia production background - and a strong interest in community journalism. Candidates with public relations, marketing, sales, development, design, cooperative and non-profit management, and tech backgrounds are also encouraged to apply.

Open Media Boston Announces Guest Editorial Series

13 April 2010 - 8:30pm | superuser
by Jason Pramas

Just a note to our faithful Open Media Boston audience that I will be out of town for the next five weeks (and no, I'm not fleeing the Tea Party rally). While I'm away I will likely post an occasional missive, but you all will be interested to know that I've afforded a number of progressive writers and activists the opportunity to publish guest editorials in these pages. So be on the look out for some interesting stuff, and know that the rest of the OMB staff and contributors will keep our usual array of news and views pieces coming your way until my return. Enjoy!

Pages

User login