media has a class problem yo

Diversity & representation across media is v. important to us here at Deez Links, but for reasons both self-biased and circumstantial, we tend to focus a lot on race & gender. Which makes This Medium post (h/t to Claire for sending!) from JSK Fellow (this fancy Stanford journalism fellowship) Heather Bryant a must-share, wherein Bryant delivers some uncomfortable truths at the classism today’s journalism scene often engenders.

Tl;dr, her husband is a garbage worker, and media people around her feel weirded out by that/don’t know how to respond. Because let’s be honest — how many co-workers do you have in this field who don’t have a (probably Ivy-League or v. well accredited) college education? Or who was able to take on an unpaid internship (or like, 20) because the parents could front for food & rent? Or like who didn’t grow up in a double-income household that got the NYT delivered each morning? Not many, y’all.

For further reading, I link thee once more to BuzzFeed’s Anne Helen Petersen May edition of her newsletter here, about journalism’s roots as a trade, not a Macbook-powered NY office job where we go out for sushi-grade poke for lunch not infrequently.

Thoughts? Thinking face emojis? hit me.

Deez Links is off until Friday because of lol another work retreat thing again somehow?? Sending peace & blessings from #CampAtlantic in the meantime.