I’m a disabled freelance journalist, so when I started seeing job vacancies for writers and editors to cover ‘diversity’ as a beat, I was excited. But I’ve quickly become skeptical.
Instead of looking for writers who could cover specific experiences of the world, most outlets seemed to want just one person to write about the wide spectrum of ‘diversity’. It’s as if there there are two kinds of people: straight, white, cis, middle-class English men who aren’t disabled – and the rest of us, who are ‘diverse’.
Recently, I came across a posting for a writer who could cover “POC issues, indigenous issues, disability, sexuality, religion, gender, trans issues, black lives matter”. They were looking for just one writer.
