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Head of Editorial, Suyin Haynes, on why gal-dem chose to be independently regulated.

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This interview is part of a series featured in Hacked Off's new report:

Ten Years of Press Freedom.

Ten years after the phone hacking scandal there has been a revolution in Britain's media landscape, with the creation of the first ever independent press regulator IMPRESS - which is now even more popular than the national press' industry-controlled complaints-handler, IPSO. Despite attacks from Government and the national press, the Leveson system of independent regulation is thriving.

This report, with research and interviews with journalists, investigates the media standards revolution, and the pioneering publishers leading the way.

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[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]gal-dem Is a new media publication, committed to telling the stories of people of colour from women and other marginalised genders. It has online and print editions covering news, arts, music, politics and lifestyle.Head of Editorial Suyin Haynes says gal-dem was born out of a need to address inequalities, under representation and misrepresentation of people of colour from marginalised genders in the mainstream press - “Whether that’s writing about institutional injustice, holding authorities and systems to account or powerful individuals. Or covering culture, lifestyle, joy and music. I think it’s important to have that mix of journalism within what we do.”Suyin says the main aim of gal-dem is to provide a platform for storytellers and creatives.She says,“It’s important for us to put money back into the hands of people who haven’t had opportunities and to showcase or spotlight the work of people who historically wouldn’t have opportunities, due to the structural barriers that people of colour from marginalised genders may have faced.”It’s not about connections or nepotism. It’s about taking chances on emerging writers and coaching them to tell their stories. Continuing to show that journalism can be a profession for everyone”.“And we’re super proud that there’s a generation of 24 - 30 year olds now, who at the time, when gal-dem first started, many of the journalists from our community, who now work in the mainstream press actually got their first bylines with us.”Suyin tells us that the majority of their pitches come from an online form, which asks people to outline their ideas and encourages them to share their pronouns and ethnicity.“It’s not about your CV, previous bylines or portfolio, '' she says. “It’s about your story and the strength of your idea."

Why join IMPRESS?

Suyin explains that one of the main motivations for joining IMPRESS was to ‘professionalise our journalism’.She says,“When we started [in 2015] we were organised over Facebook, it was very ad-hoc, a collective of students, which was of course very fun and exciting. But we didn't have any editorial processes. “Being part of IMPRESS is part of that, it gives us a level of accountability and validation that what we publish has a grounding in truth.”Suyin says that the IMPRESS standards code is very important to gal-dem. “We pride ourselves on being independent but having that framework is really helpful and on the rare occasion when dealing with complaints. Especially when we are bringing on junior staff, with no newsroom experience it’s important that we demonstrate the standards which we expect or want upheld in this industry”.Suyin says joining IMPRESS is about being part of a democratised media landscape. “Independent media is so important, to have the plurality of voices and ensuring people’s consumption is varied. So much of British media has led to people feeling disempowered and where independent media really flourishing is by reclaiming that. An outlet like ours shows that ordinary people that may not consider themselves a journalist, everyone has a story to tell”. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

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