Beyond journalism

(*artwork by Incé Husain)

I created The Unprecedented Times in February 2022. The goal was to: 1) store all the articles I’d published across newspapers in one place; 2) publicly post articles that did not appear in their original form in the newspapers that published them; 3) pursue articles independently of newspapers; and 4) make it easy for people to follow my writing.

All these aims remain true. I strive to fulfill them all. But I am also finding it increasingly necessary to publish - as a journalist - work that would not be accepted as “traditional journalism”.

I want to publish some of my journal entries. I want people to have access to my voice, my non-journalistic voice, the voice that is known by very few, and within those few, only selected accounts of that voice. I want to do this because, as a journalist, I think people must know who I am. They must know who they are entrusting with their truth, their narrative, their person. They must know who will carry their reality into written record - historical record - for the world to know.

I have chosen to do this because of my discomfort with the fundamental premise of journalism: that a journalist must report “objectively” and “neutrally”. This premise completely erases the reality that a journalist will inherently - consciously or unconsciously - use language in a way that reflects their values, culture, beliefs, and place in society, which inevitably render their articles non-neutral and non-objective. This premise of “objectivity” and “neutrality” was well-summarized in a statement by an editor I worked with: they said that a journalist is one who is an observer of society and never a participant.

Though a noble pursuit, this aim is impossible. Our current world is defined by generations of oppression that unequally distribute power, value, and status among us today. Our status quo is defined by racial harm, gendered harm, economic harm, and any other type of oppression that has historically devalued some of us to intentionally advantage others. The concepts of “neutrality” and “objectivity”  exist within this fundamentally flawed status quo. No one can escape this status quo. It has shaped us all since birth. To be aware of this status quo - as I am sure my journalism colleague was - does not make us immune to how it defines our power in society. It certainly does not make a journalist capable of stripping away that unearned power, established over generations and present in every facet of life, when they write an article.

So, how do I proceed as a journalist, given that the connotation of journalism is one of the “objectivity” and “neutrality” that I have deemed flawed and impossible?

The answer is: I proceed with transparency. 

I invite you to witness my voice through my journal entries. Decide, for yourself, how the person I am - my culture, my values, my beliefs, my place in society - may influence what I write, how I write, who I write about. Decide, for yourself, how it might strengthen or weaken my journalistic work. Decide, for yourself, if you believe I am apt to entrust with your truth, your friend’s truth, the truth of a global affair, a local affair, a personal affair.

I will state clearly: I strive to write with sensitivity and precision and to interview with sensitivity and precision. I will listen, write, and observe with my experience as a journalist, my training as a psychologist, my training as a researcher, my existence as an artist. And if you find I have not been sensitive or precise, tell me and hold me accountable. I have much to learn.

To ensure transparency, the journal entries I post will not have been specifically written for The Unprecedented Times. Rather, they will be selected journal entries written naturally as I have gone about my life. This will be easy; I write constantly. I write on the bus, in the elevator, in line at a café, as I wake up, before I sleep; in the natural pauses in my work, between my breaths.

I will select which journal entries to post to The Unprecedented Times with three criteria: 1) entries that I think will help people assess the influence of my life on my article-writing; 2) entries that I think will help people assess my voice and its influence on my interviewing style; and 3) entries that do not significantly involve my thoughts on people in my personal life to preserve their privacy.

After selecting these journal entries, I will edit them only to: 1) exclude all mention of people in my personal life or anonymize their mention (with variables X, Y, or Z); or 2) to add clarifications on certain topics I have written about to ensure the content of the entry is clear.

I will send out an email update to all subscribers when I post these journal entries, as I do with all articles.

As always, I welcome all readers to reply to these email updates with any thoughts, feelings, or other. I look forward to learning from you. ♦