TRAILER ALERT: SWAT Topic
A video preview for our upcoming feature on the Bay State’s private militarized police force and their disregard for the Massachusetts Public Records Law
One of the most important things we do at the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism is identify reporters and outlets with whom we want to collaborate. Our mission is to boost their enterprises one and all, kind of like that commercial for the company BASF in which they claim, “We don’t make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better.”
Of the many talented media makers in Mass, we’re especially excited to work with Maya Shaffer and Andrew Quemere of the Bay State Examiner. Their work, which is supported by flurries of Freedom of Information Act requests, is audacious watchdog journalism, a mix of good old fashioned muckraking and modern investigative tactics.
The BS Examiner’s work speaks for itself; just consider original and critical reports like “Salem dispatcher fabricates confrontation leading to journalists being detained,” or Quemere’s collaboration with DigBoston from earlier this year, which remains the most robust examination to date on the topic of recording police in the Commonwealth.
We’re thrilled to be working with Maya and Andrew on their latest endeavor, a deep dive into the closed-door culture of a private SWAT team subsidized by public dollars. You can learn more in their trailer below, and stay tuned to BINJ and the Examiner for updates on the upcoming November piece that will begin their series about private law enforcement councils.
