• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

WHO I WRITE FOR: A MEDITATION

Written by JASON PRAMAS Posted January 30, 2019 Filed Under: Apparent Horizon, COLUMNS, NEWS+OPINIONS

Morison statue inscription
Inscription on the Samuel Eliot Morison statue on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston

 

Like pretty much every journalist, I think about who I am writing for* from time to time. Most writers aren’t just sending messages into the ether, after all. Unless they are writing for therapeutic reasons. Or they are diarists. But even diarists are typically writing for some future audience they have in mind. Be they archeologists, aliens, or merely grandchildren.

 

For myself, I write to a general audience, yes. But that’s not who I write for week to week. So I thought I should discuss that aspect of my process a bit for the curious or perplexed. And it’s helpful exercise for me, too. Since one doesn’t usually write this kind of thing down. As Johnny Cash, an artist and humanitarian who I have long admired, once did in his song “Man in Black.”

 

Naturally, I’m always thinking of the subjects of my articles when I write. The good guys, not the bad guys. If they’re getting a raw deal, then I certainly write for them.

 

And I write for my wife, my friends, and my extended family. Because they are the touchstone for everything I do. Even the ones I don’t see very often.

 

But there’s more to it than that.

 

I write for the common people. Just like me. The people who do not have great wealth. Who are not presidents or princes or potentates. Or executives or generals. The great mass of humanity that gets up every day and goes to work. Or works from home. Or does housework and cares for their children. Not because they want to—although they may—but because they have to.

 

Because they need money to survive. Because it’s their responsibility. Because it’s necessary.

 

Or because they are forced to. By circumstance. Or convention. Or threat of ostracism… or even violence.

 

I also write for the people who cannot work. Because there aren’t enough decent jobs. Because they’re sick. Or disabled. Or addicted. Or tired of life.

 

I write for the very young. And the very old. Who have little say in the course of each day.

 

I write for the students. Just not the rich ones. (Unless they’re nice.)

 

I write for the outcasts. The street people. The homeless. The hustlers and petty criminals.

 

I write for the night people. The touched ones. The mad ones. The rebels.

 

And if you’re reading this, I write for you.

 

Though I can never speak for you.

 

You should speak for yourself.

 

Experience the world. Then write what you think.

 

Like the legend on the old Samuel Eliot Morison statue on Comm Ave:

 

DREAM DREAMS
THEN WRITE THEM
AYE, BUT LIVE THEM FIRST

 

And the world will be a better place for it.

 


*Note to grammarians: Yes, I know that, technically, the correct usage of “who” as the object of the preposition “for” should be “whom” throughout. But as our copy editor said, “That means you’ve got an article called ‘Whom I Write for,’ which is awful.” So I’m sticking with the colloquial usage of “who” here. Like the townie I am…

 

Apparent Horizon—winner of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia’s 2018 Best Political Column award—is syndicated by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. Jason Pramas is BINJ’s network director, and executive editor and associate publisher of DigBoston. Copyright 2019 Jason Pramas. Licensed for use by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and media outlets in its network.

JASON PRAMAS
+ posts

Executive editor and associate publisher, DigBoston. Executive director of Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. Former founder and editor/publisher of Open Media Boston. 2018 & 2019 Association of Alternative Newsmedia Political Column Award Winner.

  • JASON PRAMAS
    https://digboston.com/author/jason-pramas/
    BU’s John Silber Did Not Support Free Speech on His Campus
  • JASON PRAMAS
    https://digboston.com/author/jason-pramas/
    The Globe Still Needs to Apologize for Cheerleading the GE Boston Deal
  • JASON PRAMAS
    https://digboston.com/author/jason-pramas/
    For the Latest Pandemic Info, Check Out the ‘People’s CDC’
  • JASON PRAMAS
    https://digboston.com/author/jason-pramas/
    LIST OF JASON PRAMAS COLUMNS ON THE GE BOSTON DEAL

Filed Under: Apparent Horizon, COLUMNS, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: Column, economy, Jason Pramas, Journalism, labor, Politics, work, writing

WHAT’S NEW

State Wire: Funds Aim To Support Municipalities With Expanded Mail Voting

State Wire: Funds Aim To Support Municipalities With Expanded Mail Voting

Parks & Checks: Wasteful, Opaque Bookkeeping At Two City Of Boston Nonprofit Arms

Parks & Checks: Wasteful, Opaque Bookkeeping At Two City Of Boston Nonprofit Arms

Surf’s Upcycled: Meet The Bay State Surfers Conserving The Oceans Where They Ride

Surf’s Upcycled: Meet The Bay State Surfers Conserving The Oceans Where They Ride

State Wire: Public Supports Changes To High-Stakes Testing For Mass Students

State Wire: Public Supports Changes To High-Stakes Testing For Mass Students

State Wire: White Supremacist Gatherings, Incidents Hit All-Time High In New England

State Wire: White Supremacist Gatherings, Incidents Hit All-Time High In New England

State Wire: Protests, Construction Continue at East Boston Substation

State Wire: Protests, Construction Continue at East Boston Substation

Primary Sidebar

LOCAL EVENTS

AAN Wire


Most Popular

  • Does Massachusetts Underestimate Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
  • The Most Expensive Massachusetts City For Car Insurance (No, It’s Not Boston)
  • If You Find A Mini Felted Animal Around Boston, This Is Where It Came From
  • Photo Dispatch: “Ukraine Day” Rally In Boston’s Copley Square
  • As Prices Soar, Fossil Fuel Industry Looks After Its Interests On Beacon Hill

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com