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Friday 26th January: Is DEI at risk of becoming just another trend?
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2023 was a mixed bag on the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) front. It was the year Vogue published its first ever Braille issue, and featured 19 disabled people on its cover, but is also the year when Edward Enninful, having challenged certain advertisers on the inclusivity of their campaigns, was removed from his position at the title and promoted to the much more amorphous ‘Editorial Advisor’.
There have been mutterings that the industry is treating DEI as another ‘trend’, rather than as a fundamental problem. As part of our Media Moments 2023 report, we invited Joanna Cummings, who has been compiling FIPP’s DEI tracker, to pick out the biggest DEI developments for publishers.
It’s a mixed bag. As budgets are squeezed, DEI initiatives are often one of the first on the chopping block. But there have also been a increasing number of programmes launched, and a recognition that there are barriers related to age, class, neurodiversity and more which also need to be considered.
Ooof, Brian Morrissey is NOT holding back in this issue of his newsletter. I’ll tease you with this line from villain #2, the loss of distribution power: “It’s somewhat embarrassing that email newsletters, of all things, have emerged as one of the sturdiest distribution channels. I don’t blame Anna Wintour for keeping the sunglasses on for the email meetings.”
Talking of Anna Wintour, Pitchfork’s folding into GQ was apparently made after she called for "a careful evaluation of Pitchfork’s performance”. The big issue here is that by moving the music publication under the umbrella of men’s title GQ, it sets back all the work the publication was doing with women writers and people of colour covering everything from R&B to experimental and global music. “Music is so much more than a ‘men’s interest’ or leisure pursuit,” comments The Guardian’s Laura Snapes.
Are you seeing traffic declines, and are they worrying, or is revenue from referrals still stable? One publisher theorises that the traffic they have now is more of a concentrated jus than a water soup. Join the discussion on our community forum.
Sorry, not a cheery one to end the week on. Gretel Kahn has been talking to emerging journalists from Europe, North America and Latin America to find out what hurdles they face as they get started in the industry. She’s grouped the responses into five common themes, from the exorbitant price tag of journalism school to the years spent doing internships.
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