DIDIHOOD ~ Issue 54

August, you're already here! 

We hope you have been enjoying your summer so far -- we're hoping to host our first in-person event at the end of this month. Stay tuned on social media for more details. 
Before we get into this month's newsletter, we wanted to once again congratulate our first three winners of The Didi Creative Grant! We we're overwhelmed with the amazing submissions this year and can't wait to see what each project does in the year to come. There is so much talent out there in our community.

This month's Meet The Didi is a Didi who has been part of the community since our launch. Katherine Singh is an entertainment and culture writer at Refinery29 based in Toronto. 

Tell us about your reporting journey so far, how did you get there?
I always knew I wanted to go into journalism (I grew up watching Anderson Cooper on CNN and wanted to do what he did — seriously, I had his photo in my locker in high school)! But it took me a bit to actually get into it. After studying English lit at Queen's University, I did Master of Journalism program at Toronto Metropolitan University. This was a really great opportunity because it allowed me to make connections in a city — and industry — I was unfamiliar with.

During the program, I interned at FLARE for a summer in 2018. This was an incredible opportunity because I made so many great connections and now friends and it allowed me to really learn on the go. I was writing reported trending analyses and articles on a daily basis and helped with social media content. After my internship, I continued freelancing at FLARE throughout my second year in the program, going into the office two days a week, and when I graduated in October 2019, I was hired full time as an editor. In February 2021, I started at Refinery29 on the Canadian team as a staff writer, covering all types of topics from health, beauty, and fashion to entertainment and relationships. When the Canadian outlet closed at the end of 2021, I moved over to the U.S. team and am currently a feature writer on the entertainment team.

Lifestyle reporting in Canada can often feel like a bubble, but also hard to break into. How do you navigate this space?
I definitely understand that feeling of being outside the bubble, but one thing that I do love about lifestyle reporting and this corner of the industry is that I do find people inside the bubble are typically incredibly supportive! (especially if they know how tough it can be to get in). I made my first few great connections attending one of the first Didihood events (!!) before they even launched. That introduced me to such a great, almost built-in community of people who have continued to advocate for me and say my name in rooms that I'm not in (but would like to be in). I would say don't be afraid to reach out for chats or to inquire about pieces or topics a certain editor you admire or publication may be looking for, just to put yourself on people's radars, and then continue to foster the relationships that you make. Social media is a great tool/way to do this!

How do you pitch features to an editor? How often do you pitch or focus on stories with a South Asian voice and how do you do it?
A lot of my pitching has been done within the context of a staff writer job or connections through friends, when I know an editor is looking for something specific! But as someone who has received pitches as well, some of the most successful experiences have been when a writer connects with me on social media (because I'm online all the time and will see it), then sends a concise but informative pitch, that gets at all the important bits: the angle of the story, why it needs to be told, why they're the person to tell it, and who they'd talk to!
As a writer, I try to focus as much of my work as I can on stories with a South Asian voice or angle, because I think it is still really underserved in mainstream lifestyle journalism (although publications like The Juggernaut are so incredible). I try to pitch stories that will really resonate with South Asian readers but also speak to universal experiences and themes (like a recent piece I wrote about the use of a Bollywood song in season 2 of Bridgerton. It was monumental for me, as someone who grew up listening to this music, to hear it on a big platform like a hit Netflix series, but I think a lot of people from different cultures can resonate with the feeling of being seen or having aspects of your culture recognized in western media). 

Have you faced in barriers as a BIPOC writer in the industry?
I would say the biggest barrier I've faced as a BIPOC writer is navigating and figuring out how not to be pigeonholed in my reporting. I think too often BIPOC writers can be tasked with reporting on solely their own community or be viewed by (let's be honest, typically white and male) newsrooms as the voice of authority for a certain community. That can feel really limiting in some ways and also kind of inauthentic. I'm West Indian, and there are certain aspects of the South Asian cultural experience that I'm not so familiar with and would never feel comfortable speaking on or being an authority for (also, not every brown person has the same thoughts, feelings, and ideas!!). But, at the same time,  it's a complex situation, because I have definitely also leaned into my identity within the newsroom to help get certain stories told and because it allows you to get work. So it's kind of complicated.

How do you network and build relationships in this industry?
Social media! As much as Twitter is an actual abyss, I've made some of my best connections professionally and personally over Twitter and Instagram, just by engaging with journalists, editors etc. that I admire. A lot of editors will also put out call-puts for specific angles or types of pieces they're looking for. Once you make those connections, you can build on them IRL or by asking what they may be looking for if they need pitches, putting their name forward for work you think they'd be suited for. Sharing and engaging with their work, and then following through on deadlines and producing clean copy if they do commission you! I don't want these relationships to sound transactional, because they're not! Even if you don't end up actually working with said connections directly, these relationships are so important just for general support, chatting out story ideas, or just connecting with people who may have similar interests to you.

What would be your advice to Didis who want to do a similar job?
The industry can be incredibly daunting, but I would say go for it and go in with an open mind! There are so many ways that people in journalism are reinventing and invigorating the industry and what lifestyle journalism looks like. So although your career may not be initially what you imagined (old school print etc.), there are so many unique and cool ways to do lifestyle journalism. It's daunting but it's also a super exciting time to be in the industry!

What we're reading: 

In South Asian culture, being single over 30 is stigmatised. These women want to change that.

The South Asians of OnlyFans

An open letter from Laadliyan to the community after the deaths of Sania Khan and Mandeep Kaur
 

Who's ready to get back to in-person events? Let us know, we can't wait to see all your faces again! 

— Arti Patel

Issue 54

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