Sep 22, 2018
Late last year, I had the chance to sit down to talk to Hussein Kesvani about his work as a Muslim
journalist.
A lot happened between then and now that led to me not
publishing this podcast episode soon after I recorded it.
I figure now's as good a time as any.
Hussein Kesvani is the UK/Europe editor for Mel Magazine, a
publication ostensibly about men and masculinity (though I would
argue it's perpetuating modern degeneracy and promoting men being
Soyboys.)
This is most certainly a black mark against Hussein, who is
otherwise a fine fellow and an accomplished, non-hacky
journalist.
He's also written for Buzzfeed, Vice, The Independent, The
Guardian, The New Statesman, The Shortlist, and
Refinery29.
He's a co-host of the No Country For Brown Men Podcast and also the
Trash Future podcast.
Here's what we talked about during our short chat:
- The relationship between a writer and his editor, and why
journalists publish pieces that can seem "editorialized"
[4:55]
- What journalists and copywriters have in common when writing
about "subjects" and clients [8:42]
- The challenge of writing on topics involving Muslims in a
non-Muslim publication [13:05]
- How BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) people can get
their foot in the door of fast-changing world of modern
journalism [17:20]
- Where does Hussein place crowd-funded, independent citizen
journalists like Mike Cernovich, Tim Pool, and Lauren Southern in
the ecosystem of journalism as a whole [23:58]
- How the definition of "journalism" has changed in recent years
[27:18]
- On the journalistic value of what
many citizen journalists think passes for
journalism [30:09]
- Do mainstream media publications have a responsibility to be
impartial and objective? [35:26]
- How can Muslim men get their start in journalism? Hussein gives
us practical advice. (Hint: copywriting is an important skill)
[39:56]