Hi Reader,

First of all, thanks for the tips and feedback I got from some of the subscribers. I really love to be in touch with you, so whenever you feel you like sharing your ideas or comments, just hit the reply button of this email.

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What does it mean to be white?

Subscriber Mandy sent me a compelling article (“Reporters of color are declaring independence”) about the lack of change in the arguments about media diversity in the US since 1968 and the fact that nowadays Black journalists start their own initiatives instead of waiting for white news organizations to create space for them.
I discovered new interesting Black and minority media platforms who challenge traditional media through the article (PushBlack, Sahan Journal) but I almost always miss one aspect in pieces about media diversity: the responsibility of white journalists to educate themselves.
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I wrote a Twitter #thread about it:

To me, the realization of white journalists who need to do the work was the holy grail after years of working in inclusive media where I got confronted with my blind spots and prejudices. At that time, instead of educating myself about what it means to be white, white privilege and whiteness, I was just very angry about the fact that so many white people weren’t aware of their blind spots yet and I wanted to save the Black people from those ignorant people. White savior behavior is one of the stages towards anti racism, so I've been there and done that. I got backlash from the Black journalist community - because who wants to be saved? - and I withdrew from the debate. Black people would say: white people should just listen instead of putting themselves in the centre of attention regarding the topic of inclusion. It left me confused about my contribution.

Even though I stepped back from writing and sharing my opinion, I kept following the debate about media diversity and especially listened to Black and minority voices. It wasn’t until I got to understand the bigger picture of how skin colour is just one aspect of the problem and how the root cause of racism is deeply connected to colonialism and economical inequality that I felt called again to speak out. Nell Irvin Painter's book "The history of white people" is a must read in that regard. This article summarizes her view on whiteness.

The importance of learning through experience

Other feedback I got from this community is the request for more personal experience and opinion from my side. I’ve noticed something interesting regarding that point.

Most of my learning comes through lived experience. As one of the only white people (at the beginning) in a multicultural media organization for ten years, I’ve experienced the diversity topic on the ground. When I read about it though, I notice that journalists hold scientific research often as the only truth. I believe the issue is strongly related to mental wellbeing (that’s why I started Inclusive Journalism) and my conversation with mental health journalist Tanmoy Goswami (IGTV) reconfirmed that idea.

Tanmoy makes a comparison between mental health news and business news. When you report on financial topics there are certain laws and regulations to fall back on. When covering mental health, there aren’t really regulatory institutions to prove right from wrong. On the contrary, more and more evidence shows that people are so different from each other that what works for one doesn’t work for the other, even in matters of using medicine: one pill might help you release your headache, but won’t work for me. Personal experience therefore matters significantly. The same goes for the process of antiracism. There is not one tool, one book or one program that changes your perspective. A personal experience is needed to start seeing things differently and change your behavior.
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In Vipassana - the meditation technique I follow - there is talk of three types of knowledge:

1. Knowledge from books, research, science
2. Knowledge from other people’s experiences, shared with you
3. Knowledge through your own experience

Without your own experience, the other two types of knowledge don’t really have a meaning.

The difficulty is, the only time you get confronted with the negative aspects of white skin in Western communities is when you get sunburned ;). It asks for engaging (listening!) in conversations with people with a minority background to get confronted with your prejudices. And white people don’t always grow up or work in an environment where they face up to the deeper reality of society.

Raan Oosha interviewed me about whiteness, white privilege and I share some of my personal experiences that are still embarrassing to me.

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What can you do?

• The use of data and AI to fight racism is of value but don’t forget that algorithms aren’t necessarily neutral. Click the link for an insightful talk by (Black) associate professor Sennay Ghebreab. It's in Dutch with English subtitles. You'll never walk through an automatic face recognition machine again without thinking about this.
• The situation in Myanmar is still uncertain. I came across drone footage that was shared on Twitter of how the police shoots protesters (at least 2 deads). Although it's good to have this kind of technology to help us cover the violence, the drone footage at the same time dehumanizes the situation. As if we’re watching a video game instead of reality. The role of journalists is to use technology to empower people instead of marginalizing them. By the way, if you’re interested in the Myanmar situation, the debate “What is happening in Myanmar? Anti-coup protests, civil society and media” by School of Global Studies, Gothenburg University is worth registering for (this Tuesday).
• And last but not least an interesting opinion on decolonization in Pakistan. Themrise Khan writes: “The main reason we can perhaps not successfully decolonize is because we have created an internal form of colonization within Pakistan, where the rich control the poor.” In case you end up in a conversation about this topic...

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This is it for this week. Keep your tips, questions and feedback coming (reply to this mail) and see you next week!