Part of the Series
Ladydrawers
Recent debates over the always enraging but never changing VIDA byline stats (which document the percentage of women’s bylines in major media outlets) have seemingly devolved into hopelessness, with some parties claiming that editors don’t care or they would hire more women creators, editors using the moment to trumpet perhaps marginal accomplishments in bringing in new women’s voices, and women writers still floundering in a field of cultural production that clearly doesn’t value their labor as highly as men’s. Here at Ladydrawers, of course, we feel that byline counts are just the most immediate proof of a deeply flawed system. This system includes differences in how published content is acquired, a pay gap across a range of gender identities, and unique but consistent forms of gender-based and sexual harassment. It is also a reflection of a larger gender bias in media and labor in general.
This flawed system was built outside the arena of cultural production, of course, which is why the last two strips have focused on a history of women’s struggle for equal political representation and pay, and women’s recent gains in Congress. But a lack of political representation across a spectrum of gender identities has had real impacts on laws and policies upon which our culture is built. Over the next few strips, we’ll explore how intellectual property rights law has had an impact on culture, culling from research done in residency at the Provisions Library in Washington, DC. This one, a collaboration with Ladydrawer’s second male artist Clay Harris, features portraits of cultural producers from the DC area.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
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