stillness is a lie, my dear
Journalism is in a state of constant flux, thanks to the new demands placed on journalists and the environment we work in. We are already living in an era where our work is undervalued, where the budgets for what we do are constantly shrinking, where the world expects impossible things of us and then lashes […]
Everyone’s anxiety manifests differently, depending on the person and the situation. For me, when I get phone calls, texts, emails, and other communiques, I get a little twinge of anxiety before I even see them; the notification is enough to make my mouth a little bit dry, to make me feel like I kind of […]
It’s not just YA that seems to attract sneers from many adults eager to prove how above it all they are, and how much better they are than simple teenagers who apparently are easily distracted by the first bright shiny thing they see. All media ostensibly aimed at teens comes in for the same kind […]
The Bechdel Test has been getting a great deal of attention lately as people expand it beyond the original scope (a film must feature at least two women talking to each other about something other than a man) and applications—thus, we’ve seen versions developed for race and queerness, for example, as well as the use […]
The United States is a country that hates fat people. It invests untold amounts of dollars in fatphobic hate campaigns targeting the general public, shaming fat people, attempting to institute sin taxes on various ‘bad’ foods, and so much more. When it comes to fat, and bodies, it’s clear that regulatory officials have gone off […]
I’m interested in fashion, primarily as an abstract thing. Most of the clothes I really like aren’t designed for bodies like mine, and high fashion doesn’t really include people who dress like me or share my taste. But I love textiles, I love looking at clothes, I love seeing what’s in fashion, I read fashion […]
Political sex scandals puzzle me. I freely admit that they always have. I just don’t have that much interest in anyone else’s sex life, no matter who they are, and having sordid details broadcast across the media doesn’t really do it for me. I don’t really hold politicians to a higher ethical standard than anyone […]
In July, I watched a plane crash unfold in real time on Twitter. The first updates flowed in within seconds as people at San Francisco International Airport posted images of what appeared to be a plane on fire on the runway after a bad landing, and rumours spread like wildfire. The mass media struggled to […]
I was shocked in May of this year when the Chicago Sun-Times laid off its entire photojournalism department at one stroke, effectively putting an end to a long and storied department with a rich and complex culture. Obviously, many of the photographers in the department were more shocked than I was, and the move sparked […]
‘For every RT, we’ll donate $10 to [cause]!’ ‘Like us on Facebook and we’ll donate to [cause]!’ ‘Help us reach 5,000 followers on [Pinterest/Facebook/Instagram/Tumblr] and we’ll donate to a user-selected charity!’ I’m seeing these statements popping up more and more these days, and they are giving me a case of the chills followed by irritation […]