Hi everyone and welcome to new subscribers Caroline, Ann, Jule, Gayathrii, Hass, William, Rono, Yung Hsin, Dulamkhorloo, Anne, Sharon, Julia, Gabriel, Temitayo, Susan, Yvonne, Lilian, Quinton, Joseph and Monique!

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I just finished writing this week’s newsletter when I updated the subscriber list and saw people are joining from all over the world (Kenia, Uganda, Mongolia, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, the US and Canada this week). From a junior research scholar interested in decolonization to a co-founder of a journalism innovation center, there is so much knowledge amongst us.
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So please engage with this newsletter, share your experience about inclusive journalism or ask a question, simply by replying to this email.

A 'morally charged Western point of view'

One of the topics top of my mind last week was the amount of opinions we digest on social media every day. I remember BBC correspondent Larry Madowo - about whom I wrote last week - saying the distinction between opinion and facts has become blurry in US media and that it worries him in regard to the future of journalism.
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​(By the way, the piece on Larry got a huge amount of response, mainly from a Black audience. Which is great but I’ve written it first and foremost for Western (white) journalists to learn from. So if that's you, please share with your followers.) ​
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I was reminded of my own ‘morally charged Western point of view’ here in Bali, interestingly described by Vik Sohonie for Africa is a Country, and realized - including through a chat with an anti-vaxxer - we need less opinions and more compassion. Read my op-ed (the irony ;) and let me know what you think:

"My white colleagues don't see the problem Black journalists face"

It’s not solely the sliding scale where facts lose from opinions, but also maintaining a culture of analyzing, talking, debating and more analyzing, more talking and more debating without actually doing something.
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Especially on the topic of inclusion where the debates about the influence of the Black Lives Matter protests on the media seem to have disappeared from the limelight. It’s worth looking back on the speech historian and broadcaster David Olusoga gave during the Edinburgh TV Festival in August last year:

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Olusoga also talks about how shocking it was to him that his "white colleagues – good, decent, creative people - genuinely could not see the problem, a problem that the Black actors and the Black extras had no problem seeing". When he challenged his colleagues he was "met with a wall of hostility and resistance".

His speech - from August last year - states:

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There is a long way to go, but you can make the first move.
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What can you do?

• Australian Day (or should I already say Invasion Day) took place last week and this article holds a good example of how to talk about a controversial topic.
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• I liked this #thread on Twitter with advice for privilege about what to do to help the less privileged in the industry.
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• Decolonize your bookshelf, start with South African writer Sisonke Msimang. Her satire piece for Adi Magazine is a must read to change your perspective: "African Billionaires and Governments have a Plan to Save America".
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Any comments, feedback or ideas, just reply to this email. See you next week!