Every Saturday morning, we invite a publishing pro to put together their top media links. This week’s guest editors are Donna Williams and Nicky Davin.

Donna Williams and Nicky Davin are the founders of Libertipix, the world’s first exclusively LGBTQ+ stock photo library. Using real people from the LGBTQ+ community, they produce authentic LGBTQ+ images for businesses looking to create inclusive and diverse content.

You can find Donna on Linkedin.

Donna and Nicky say:

"Morning! Donna and Nicky here. We hope you enjoy reading our round-up. Since a large part of our business is about challenging the misrepresentation of the LGBTQ+ community, we’ve chosen a few articles that are in that area. But, they’re not all about that, honest: there are tips on how to live a more meaningful life, the creative arts and even libraries.

"Right, now we’re off for a dip in the sea. Brrrrrr!"

Tokenistic representation of the LBGTQ+ community in advertising — www.thedrum.com

This article in the Drum discusses the findings of research commissioned by the Gay Times and advertising agency, Karmarama. The research unveiled that while 64% of adults think it’s positive for the LGBTQ+ community to be visible in advertisements, a considerable 72% of the LGBTQ+ community think the way they are presented in advertising is tokenistic. This is an honest piece that we often refer to, with great commentary from Karmarama’s chief exec Ben Bilboul and Tag Warner of Gay Times.

Fluid reflections on keeping a solid centre — www.brainpickings.org

Brain Pickings, from Maria Popova, is one of the most beautiful and inspiring newsletters we get every week. In this particular article, Maria reflects on 13 years of Brain Pickings, presenting insightful ways to keep a solid centre from her favourite thinkers.

Celebrating the arts - 5 reasons to study creative subjects — www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk

With the creative industries being worth a whopping £76.9bn to the UK economy, Paul Steer, Head of Policy at UK OCR exam board, makes a case for the celebration of art, music and drama in schools in this pointed article ‘Five Reasons to Study Creative Subjects’. Paul even mentions Steve Jobs, who would often attribute his success being due to his of hiring artists and musicians fascinated by technology, rather than computer geeks.

Martina: Being brave enough to be yourself — www.theguardian.com

Of course Martina Navratilova is here! This is a great article about one of the greatest champions of our time - a marvellous example of an ‘outsider’ who worked hard and kept pushing, whist always being her authentic self. 

Lego, learning and laughter: how libraries are thriving in lockdown — www.theguardian.com

Both of us share a love of libraries. In our childhoods the library was an escape into the world where books fed our imaginations. The libraries of Liverpool were incredible places to get lost in - the buildings are still something to behold. 

This is a fascinating article about how the libraries and superstar librarians pivoted during lockdown, and how their closure affected so many people

Little Brexit — www.youtube.com

In a week where Brexit talks have been suspended at a key moment, after an EU negotiator tests positive for Covid 19, (now that’s a sentence 2019 could not have predicted) we thought we’d like to end on something a little light-hearted. So, here’s Little Brexit, Little Britain’s reunion. Voiced-over by Tom Baker, the best Doctor in our humble opinion.

If you would like to guest edit a future edition of My Media Roundup, simply reply to this email.