Leeds Arts

University
2020
Who I am
 My journey
• Started writing and editing in my first year of university, for
Black Ballad and The Cambridge Student

• Started writing for ROOKIE mag in my second year

• Did work experience with the Guardian that summer

• Set up my own magazine in third year

• Joined gal-dem in my fourth year

• Started working at HuffPost the next year

• Now at the Guardian and gal-dem, also doing freelance stuff

 Getting into journalism as a
marginalised voice
• Start writing, any way you can!

• If the space doesn’t exist, create it

• Find publications that want your voice

• Play to your strengths

• Where does your authority lie?

• Placements and funds: positive action scheme,

journalism diversity fund, creative access
starting up a publication
• It’s hard work

• But it’s about finding your people

• Get advice and support from anyone you

know who has skills/info/has done it before
• Think about what there is a need for –
where are the gaps in the content you
• Think about strategy and the best way to
consume?
divide labour

• Think about what you want your

• Remember that you can’t do everything
publication to be like – maybe make a
on your own, pool skills and resources!
mood board of similar publications you
would like to draw on
• Social media and networking is your
friend
• Think about your core values, and your
mission
questions?
“
The magazine is refreshing, uplifting, hilarious
and knows its audience intimately. Each article
accurately displays the dynamism of young
creatives, giving a leg-up to innovative
enterprises and interesting events, while
attracting like-minded readers with personal
features that resonate with what many have
felt for years but have never seen adequately
discussed in-depth in column inches of

”
conventional press.

- Dazed Digital
 who we are

Kemi Niellah
Charlie Micha Frazer- Alemoru Arboine
Leah Cowan Tara Joshi
Brinkhurst-Cuff Carroll Features Lifestyle
Politics Editor Music Editor
Head of Editorial Opinions Editor Editor Editor
@la_cowan @tara_dwmd
@charliebcuff @micha_frazer @kemiaolivia @niellaharboi
x ne
 who we are
gal-dem is an award winning media company
committed to sharing the perspectives of
women and non-binary people of colour in the
UK and beyond.

We’re addressing inequality and

misrepresentation in the industry through
platforming the creative and editorial work of
young women and non binary people of colour
across fashion, lifestyle, politics, music, arts,
and opinion.

We’re a young publication, but our cultural

impact is huge. We’re revolutionising the
publishing industry, and are looking for brands
to come with us.
 what we do
Our core editorial output lives on our
website
and in our annual print publication, now in
its 4th year.

We publish content daily under arts,

lifestyle, music, news, opinion, and politics,
all written and edited by women and non-
binary people of colour.
 Values

• community
• accessibility
• curiosity
• justice
• kindness
• integrity
• transparency
• empathy
our
fans
our awards
Our reputation goes beyond the young
women and non-binary people of colour that
we represent, and we’ve been recognised
with a series of awards since launching.

• Comment Site of the Year - Comment

Awards

• Entertainment Site of the Year - Screen

Nation

• Georgina Henry Award for Innovation in

Journalism - British Press Awards
turning august
around
with the guardian
In August 2018 we took over the
Guardian Weekend magazine, with all
editorial content inside the magazine
being produced by gal-dem sourced
writers, artists, photographers, and
editors.

The magazine was a huge success, with

1.6m online visits, the magazine selling
7,000 copies more than benchmarked
for August, and the Guardian having to
restock the magazine online to meet
demand.
gal-dem print
Annual edition - published at the end of
every summer.
• Circulation 8,000, Readership 24,000
(annual edition, assumed 3 per copy)
• 3,300 copies via STACK subscription
• Mixture of newsstand distribution + online
sales (60% newsstand 40% online)
• 160 pages
the UN/REST issue
This year is our 4th edition, and we’ve
switched it up with a whole new style, a more
playful graphic design format, and bigger
and better articles and features.
As well as continuing to spotlight up and
coming talent and the incredible work done
by our community, we’ll be looking for big
names to help drive awareness of this new
era of gal-dem.
 editorial content
gal-dem.com publishes daily content under the
sections First Person, News, Life, Culture,
Politics, Music and Horoscopes.

Our content aims to spotlight the experiences

of women of colour and non binary people of
colour across a range of series and articles.

Some of our work includes:

• Wanderthirst – a travel series exploring the

world as a WoC or NBPoC

• Race Review – Monday’s news digest,

making the news bearable for our audience

• Five On It – Friday’s music listicle, exploring

new music by gal-dem faves
the articles that gal-dem publishes
1. Beautifully written personal essays giving a
voice to marginalised experiences

1. Strongly politicised and responsive op-

eds, features and news

2. Interviews with important and/or well-

known WoC/NBPoC + useful brands
how to pitch and write for gal-dem

• Check the website for recent articles.

• Figure out what it is you have to say
that is new.
• Research, research, research.
• Why would you be the best person to
write this piece?
• Why would gal-dem like this piece?
• Find the relevant editor / go to our
online form
• Write a headline
• Write a pitch of 200-250 words
• Set out clearly what you want the
article to be about
• Include relevant hyperlinks and
evidence of ability to write
questions?
 how to plan and write a good opinion piece

● It’s like an essay

● Sell the issue just like you did in your pitch. What are you
writing about, why is it relevant, why are you writing about it
and what are you going to say?
● Intertwine personal experience/expertise with your argument
● Be armed with the facts
● Make people feel something, you can have fun with it
● Get bigger and broader as you go on – what are the
implications
● Once you’ve illustrated the issue, tell readers what to do
 what makes a good feature

● Sparking ideas: Read features. Recognise the

difference between a topic and an angle

● Building your story: Start thinking of what

information or voices you can add

● Format: How will your story come together, what is

the most useful way of presenting this information

● Structure: What is the best order of presenting

information to keep readers engaged

● Language: This is what makes a standout feature

writer is developing your own tone of voice
how to approach interviews and profiles

Preparation: The best way to get a good

interview is to know what you want to get out of it
Professionalism: How are you representing
yourself and the publication you work for?
Practicality: What will you need to make it to this
interview and write it up afterwards
Performance: Be friendly, empathetic, but
thorough
Post-interview: Transcribe fully, highlight what
bits add to your narrative, fact-check
 ethics
• Journalistic ethics are complicated, but the
bottom line is that we do not want to cause harm
to our contributors or vulnerable people
• Good practise when you’re concerned about
ethics:
• anonymity
• getting things checked by lawyers
• phone calls rather than email exchanges
• receipts
• cross referencing
• right of reply
• having a bit of flexibility when contributors are
vulnerable
• taking your time and not rushing things out
• never being afraid to spike (cancel) a piece
• following up with vulnerable people
ethics
questions?
illustrations @ gal-dem
 illustrations
● gal-dem is a highly visual platform, and we’re known for our
bold, scrapbook-y illustration style
● big pool of illustrators who we commission out to
● when we first plan a piece, we think about what style of
illustration would go best with it
● we then give a general brief to the illustrator, who brings back
some preliminary sketches
● we’ll discuss these sketches, then they go away to work on
the final image
● all illustrators are paid – and are often also given opportunities
to do brand work, get involved in exhibitions etc
questions?