Michael Jonas

Executive Editor, CommonWealth

About Michael Jonas

Michael Jonas has worked in journalism in Massachusetts since the early 1980s. Before joining the CommonWealth staff in early 2001, he was a contributing writer for the magazine for two years. His cover story in CommonWealth's Fall 1999 issue on Boston youth outreach workers was selected for a PASS (Prevention for a Safer Society) Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

Michael got his start in journalism at the Dorchester Community News, a community newspaper serving Boston's largest neighborhood, where he covered a range of urban issues. Since the late 1980s, he has been a regular contributor to the Boston Globe. For 15 years he wrote a weekly column on local politics for the Boston Sunday Globe's City Weekly section.

Michael has also worked in broadcast journalism. In 1989, he was a co-producer for "The AIDS Quarterly," a national PBS series produced by WGBH-TV in Boston, and in the early 1990s, he worked as a producer for "Our Times," a weekly magazine program on WHDH-TV (Ch. 7) in Boston.

Michael lives in Dorchester with his wife and their two daughters.

About Michael Jonas

Michael Jonas has worked in journalism in Massachusetts since the early 1980s. Before joining the CommonWealth staff in early 2001, he was a contributing writer for the magazine for two years. His cover story in CommonWealth's Fall 1999 issue on Boston youth outreach workers was selected for a PASS (Prevention for a Safer Society) Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

Michael got his start in journalism at the Dorchester Community News, a community newspaper serving Boston's largest neighborhood, where he covered a range of urban issues. Since the late 1980s, he has been a regular contributor to the Boston Globe. For 15 years he wrote a weekly column on local politics for the Boston Sunday Globe's City Weekly section.

Michael has also worked in broadcast journalism. In 1989, he was a co-producer for "The AIDS Quarterly," a national PBS series produced by WGBH-TV in Boston, and in the early 1990s, he worked as a producer for "Our Times," a weekly magazine program on WHDH-TV (Ch. 7) in Boston.

Michael lives in Dorchester with his wife and their two daughters.

Stories by Michael Jonas

Mega misses — or wins?

Economy

Mega misses — or wins?

With no Olympics or Amazon, we’ll just have to do our jobs

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LIKE A HIGH SCHOOL KID  working to move past an unrequited crush, Boston told Amazon it just wasn’t that into the e-commerce giant anyway. Mayor Marty Walsh said he was proud to have made it to the “short list” in the HQ2 sweepstakes, but added, “our future will not be defined by a single company.”(...)

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Nurse staffing study left union in the dark

Health Care/ Politics

Nurse staffing study left union in the dark

Nurses’ association faults state panel on pivotal report

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THE CONTENTIOUS BALLOT QUESTION campaign over nurse staffing levels may be over, but bitter feelings remain over a study that played a pivotal role in the high-profile debate. In early October, the state Health Policy Commission released an analysis estimating the potential impacts of Question 1, which would have mandated minimum nurse staffing levels in(...)

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A hard line against colorful hardliners

Politics

A hard line against colorful hardliners

Lyons paid the price. Could Hodgson too?

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The state has always had colorful figures in elected office who make for interesting copy and are willing to pop the balloon of decorum and comity that’s often really just a cover for the go-along mentality that keeps pols safely in place and shies away from challenging the status quo. Former state rep Dan Winslow(...)

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Nurse staffing measure soundly defeated

Health Care/ Politics

Nurse staffing measure soundly defeated

Uncertainty over impact doomed ballot question

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TOO MUCH DOUBT raised about its impact and too much division even among those who were supposed to be its bedrock backers. That double whammy proved deadly for the campaign to mandate minimum nurse staffing levels in Massachusetts as voters soundly defeated Question 1 on Tuesday. Based on incomplete returns, the ballot measure was being(...)

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Teacher union backing of Weymouth Republican riles new super PAC

Education/ Guns/ Politics

Teacher union backing of Weymouth Republican riles new super PAC

Education activists say O’Connor betrays progressive values

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A SCHISM WITHIN the Democratic Party that has long divided teachers unions and education reform advocates is playing out in unusual fashion this fall in a state Senate race — with a Republican incumbent at the center of the storm. Patrick O’Connor, a Republican elected in a special election two-and-a-half years ago to a Weymouth-based(...)

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Baker and Trump: the home stretch

Politics

Baker and Trump: the home stretch

Governor can’t wait for a break from topic

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With the election just five days away, Charlie Baker is no doubt looking forward to a reprieve from the nonstop questions from reporters that look to hold candidates accountable as they compete for office. The state of the MBTA. Whether he’s moving fast enough on clean energy. The opioid epidemic. Scandal at the State Police.(...)

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In Pittsburgh synagogue attack, a dark echo

Opinion

In Pittsburgh synagogue attack, a dark echo

A toxic climate enables the impulses of those on the fringe

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AN OUTPOURING OF shock, anger, and disbelief has characterized reaction to a man walking into a Pittsburgh synagogue and slaughtering 11 people who were there on Saturday to pray on the Jewish Sabbath. Houses of worship are supposed to offer contemplative sanctuary, literal and figurative, from the vagaries and worries of daily life. I have(...)

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Globe and Herald throw endorsement curves

Media/ Politics

Globe and Herald throw endorsement curves

Globe backs Libertarian for auditor; Herald supports Healey

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YES, IT’S A FAIR QUESTION to ask how much influence newspaper endorsements have in an era of declining circulation — or to wonder how much sway they have ever had for that matter. But they’re still an interesting measure of the thinking on important election contests, and Boston’s two daily newspapers offer up some surprises(...)

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Moving toward Election Day

Politics/ Transportation

Moving toward Election Day

Transportation takes a front seat

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The first image on the screen in the first television ad aired by gubernatorial challenger Jay Gonzalez shows a traffic-clogged chunk of the Massachusetts Turnpike, and that’s no accident. To a degree that would have been surprising just four years ago, a central issue in the race for governor is the idea that the region(...)

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