CHRIS FARA1

WRITER / AUTHOR / EDITOR

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ABOUT

MY VERY SHORT BIO:

I am the Editor-In-Chief of DigBoston, the best and only alternative weekly newspaper in Eastern Mass

I also run Talking Joints Memo, the Dig’s cannabis newsletter

And I am a co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism


MY LESS SHORT BIO:

Chris Faraone is an award-winning journalist (AAN, NENPA), a former Boston Phoenix Staff Writer, the current Editor of DigBoston, and an adjunct professor of communications at Salem State University. He has more than a decade of media experience, has published four books on his own imprint, and has written features for publications ranging from The American Prospect to BuzzFeed. He co-founded the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, and has also co-written books with legendary hip-hop acts including Cypress Hill and Raekwon.


MY RESUME/CV:

EDUCATION

Boston University College of Communication, Boston, MA (2005)

  • M.S. in Print Journalism

New School for Social Research Graduate Faculty, New York, NY (2002)

  • Matriculating Coursework in Cultural Reporting & Criticism

Hobart College, Geneva, NY (2001)

  • B.A. in Psychology & African-American Studies

TEACHING

Salem State University (September 2015 – December 2016)

VISITING LECTURER

  • Taught Introduction to Communications (one section)

REPORTING AND EDITING

Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (June 2015 – Present)

CO-FOUNDER + EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

  • Started grassroots media institute that has seeded similar independent incubators in other states
  • Produced multiple major feature a month from the start, earning accolades for from privacy advocacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation among others
  • Successfully attracted attention from the likes of Nieman Lab, the Washington Post, Guardian UK, Politico, Columbia Journalism Review, and many other outlets for our initiatives
  • Attracted funding from the Reva and David Logan Foundation among other institutional donors

DigBoston (April 2013 – Present)

NEWS + FEATURES EDITOR

  • Returned site and newspaper to position as recognizable force in the hard news arena
  • Manage digboston.com; source, report, and edit everything from tweets and blog posts to long form enterprise pieces
  • Conduct workshops for investigative reporters; field, develop, and edit feature stories
  • Conceptualize dynamic print spreads and infographic layouts; organize teams around multimedia feature projects
  • Serve as institutional memory and guide regarding all political and municipal matters

Boston Phoenix (September 2008 – March 2013)

STAFF WRITER

  • Covered range of social justice issues including protests, privacy, and urban violence
  • Produced feature stories on a vast range of topics ranging from political corruption to the future of music and reading
  • Wrote more than a dozen cover stories and more than 50 features of in excess of 1,000 words.

Boston’s Weekly Dig (September 2004 – September 2008)

STAFF WRITER

  • Covered city hall in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville; covered Massachusetts State House
  • Reported on gay marriage, redistricting, casino gambling, fair elections, municipal races, etc.
  • Covered Boston Police Department, and wrote some of the first stories on compromised resident and municipal data

CONTRIBUTOR CREDITS

Esquire | Boston Herald | Buzzfeed | Spin | The Source | Racialicious | American Prospect | UTNE Reader | In These Times | Columbia Journalism Review | Boston Magazine | Creative Loafing | Orlando Weekly | East Bay Express | Fast Company | New York Press

BOOKS

  • 99 Nights with the 99 Percent: Dispatches from the first three months of the Occupy revolution (WTP, 2012)
  • Heartbreak Hell: Searching for sanity in Boston through a week of tragedy & terror (WTP, 2013)
  • I Killed Breitbart … and countless other causes of conservative consternation (WTP, 2013)
  • Hizzonnaroo: The fervent fete and street fight to replace a Boston patriarch (WTP, 2014)

AWARDS

Association of Alternative Newsmedia

  • Best News Story – SECOND PLACE (2010)
  • Best Investigative Reporting – HONORABLE MENTION (2011)
  • Best Editorial Layout – SECOND PLACE (2014)
  • Best Column – SECOND PLACE (2020)

New England Newspaper & Press Association

  • Reporting on Religious Issues – FIRST PLACE (2009)
  • General News Story – FIRST PLACE (2010)
  • Investigative Reporting – SECOND PLACE (2012)

 


I have written and published thousands of reviews and articles, but there have also been a few written about me and projects I’ve been involved with. Here are some of them …

  • Take Dumb National Trump Editorial Idea, Make it Dumber (Cleveland Scene, 2018)
  • Top stories from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (Folio Weekly, 2018)
  • Medium keeps killing off blogs in the name of saving the internet (Fast Company, 2018)
  • Medium abruptly cancels the membership programs of remaining partners (Nieman Lab, 2018)
  • Medium Ends Membership Programs With 21 Publishers (Media Post Communications, 2018)
  • Bye, Bye Journalists (Poynter, 2018)
  • High times at Hynes: convention showcases cannabis industry (Huntington News, 2018)
  • Filmmaker Johnny Hickey and BINJ Launch F.I.G.H.T. Opiates (North End Waterfront, 2018)
  • America’s ‘news deserts’: the death of the great alt-weeklies (The Guardian, 2017)
  • What will fill the gap left by their closures in the digital era? (Nieman Lab, 2017)
  • In Search of Equity: the Media Consortium Reinvents Itself (Media Shift, 2017)
  • Chris Faraone on Journalism in the Trump Era (Spare Change, 2017)
  • Alt-weeklies look for lifeline from nonprofits (Columbia Journalism Review, 2017)
  • At UML, Documentary Creators Relive Market Basket Miracle (UMass Lowell, 2017)
  • City Paper said it was closing. Now, a nonprofit is working to restore alt media (Poynter, 2017)
  • As City Paper comes to an end, editors imagine a new future  (Baltimore Business Journal, 2017)
  • Redman Explains Why He Still Lives In His Famous Crib (Ambrosia for Heads, 2017)
  • Local activism, then and now. (CCTV, 2017)
  • The Media and the Elections (CCTV, 2016)
  • Boston journalism nonprofit hopes Medium will be a moneymaker (Boston Globe, 2016)
  • Mike Connolly Becomes First Occupier Elected to Beacon Hill (Boston Magazine, 2016)
  • A nonprofit is among the first to sell subscriptions on Medium (Nieman Lab, 2016)
  • Cypress Hill to release ’25th Anniversary Skull’ reissue of debut album (Gigwise, 2016)
  • ‘Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)’ Gets Deluxe 7″ Box Set Reissue (Okayplayer, 2016)
  • Wu-Tang Clan’s new box set ain’t nothin to fuck with (Onion AV Club, 2016)
  • Remembering Redman’s Epic MTV Cribs Episode (Esquire, 2015)
  • Right-Wing Activist Poses as Student, Secretly Films Professors (Oberlin Review, 2015)
  • How a pop-up newsroom helped a Boston news nonprofit connect (Nieman Lab, 2015)
  • Slot machines, Periscope pirates, and solar flight (The Verge, 2015)
  • Did Accused Drug-Dealing Dean Cover Up Son’s Sex Abuse? (Daily Beast, 2015)
  • Confessions Of A Grown Man Who Wears Children’s Clothing (The Consumerist, 2014)
  • Plenty of adults wear children’s clothes (Today, 2014)
  • Somerville Mayor on ‘America’s Worst Politicians’ List (Patch, 2014)
  • Dig editor sues NYPD for unlawful arrest (Boston Globe, 2014)
  • Police Investigating Reports Of More Bombs After Marathon (Business Insider, 2014)
  • Protests in New York continue amid New Year’s Eve celebrations (Mashable, 2014)
  • Journalist says NYPD beat and illegally arrested him during OWS
  • Talking about a revolution (The Economist, 2012)
  • ‘DigBoston’ Puts Somerville in Crosshairs (Patch, 2013)
  • Nothin’ but a party at the Lizard Lounge (Boston Globe, 2013)
  • What Chris Faraone Saw at the Revolution (Wonkette, 2013)
  • Movement Man (Columbia Journalism Review, 2011)

QUICK ABOUT

I am the Editor-In-Chief of DigBoston, the best and only alternative weekly newspaper in Eastern Mass

Plus I dispense media and journalism advice, both solicited as well as unsolicited

I also run Talking Joints Memo, the Dig’s cannabis newsletter

And I am a co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism

GET YOUR COPY of my 99 Nights with the 99 Percent: Dispatches from the first three months of the Occupy Revolution reissue

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER

Twitter
Chris Faraone
Chris Faraone
@Fara1

There's no winning the argument that there shouldn't be youth sports during pandemic. Morons insist on their kids playing sports and that's that. But why must parents still be watching and filling indoor facilities? Because they're a sick cult of pathetic puck cucks, that's why.

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3:44 pm · January 15, 2021
Twitter
Chris Faraone
Chris Faraone
@Fara1

INBOX: "I am writing you from Assist Group, an Italian Media Factory."

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2:09 pm · January 15, 2021
Twitter
Chris Faraone
Chris Faraone
@Fara1

Great piece by @zhuffman about the lack of access to public restrooms in #Boston ... especially now ... twitter.com/DigBoston/stat…

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12:42 am · January 15, 2021
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