In this week’s episode Hannah Taylor, editor and founder for The Delicate Rébellion, tells us about her print magazine showcasing the work of independent female creatives, the community that has grown out of the magazine and her new online shop. She tells us how crappy teachers led her eventually to start her own magazine to encourage women to follow their creative passions.
In the news roundup the team discusses Twitter launching its subscription options for creators, the ongoing saga of Australia and the Duopoly, and why Al Jazeera is launching a platform for conservatives in the US called ‘Rightly’. The team disagrees about Peter’s new sandwich idea at length.
The full transcript is live here, but here are the highlights:
On unsupportive teachers
I feel like the magazine is a personal project. It does feel like it encompasses my mood and feeling towards the creative industries. And it does stem back to that time at school where I was so nervous to put things out.
I feel like my story, my high school story is actually relevant to so many people. When I’ve chatted to people about their time at high school and, you know, the delay that it took them to actually embrace something creative, that they’re passionate about.
There seems to be a sort of thread in that. At some point in their life, they’ve been undermined or their work has been undermined, or questioned in a way that it didn’t necessarily need to be spoken about.
On The Delicate Rébellion’s mission
For The Delicate Rébellion, our biggest asset is still our community. And it all stems from the pages of the magazine, because we feature both well established artists and designers as well as fresh face graduates in the art world. We are super welcoming of people, at every stage and every age. Regardless of where you are with your creative practice – you don’t have to be a creative to read the magazine.
It’s just to sort of encourage people to put their passions out there, like, don’t be afraid to give it a go. We’re absolutely not suggesting that everyone who enjoys picking up a paintbrush or can stitch something beautiful onto a T shirt should try and make a buck from their passions. That’s absolutely not what we’re trying to encourage. We just want people to not be afraid to do it.
I feel like the features that we pick for the magazine, we really do make a conscious effort of bringing in people who are just doing it for the sheer love of it as well as people who are sustaining a career.
On flying solo
When I started I had a full time job, like a crazy full time job as well, it was like more than full time, as well as raising Sky on my own and doing the magazine and the first year of the collective. And it was just too much. I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is crazy’.
Once I gave up my job, I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be so much easier because I’ve got all this time’. But still doing it all on your own. It was like, ‘Oh my god’. Even just thinking about it makes my heart stop.
Key story:
- Twitter has announced paid Super Follows to let you charge for extra content. This could be bonus tweets, access to a community group, a newsletter subscription or exclusive ‘badges’
News in brief:
- Facebook reversed its ban on sharing news content in Australia after the government agreed to make amendments to the media bargaining law. The contribution the platforms make to news will now be taken into account, and Facebook has retained its rights to take Aussie news content down again in the future.
- With the Google $125 million cash deal announced last week, almost 90% of that money will go to three companies News Corp, Seven West Media and Nine. Analysts have argued this is strengthening the ‘old media’ monopolies (and we’ve argued repeatedly this creates a really opaque system that favours big publishers with more bargaining power, and no obligation on Big Tech to pay fairly or even continue payments in the future. It’s not sustainable)
- Also publishers in Europe have teamed up with Microsoft in a call for Australian-style legislation. They want to mimic the arbitration panel that would establish a ‘fair price’ for having publisher content on Facebook and Google. Microsoft is working with four publisher associations on some proposals.
- The former editors of British music monthly Q magazine which folded in July 2020 due to pandemic pressures are now launching their own weekly newsletter called The New Cue. It will be distributed via Substack, and will have interviews from artists, as well as playlists and recommendations.
- Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera is launching a platform for conservatives in the US called ‘Rightly’. It’s aimed at Republicans who ‘feel left out of mainstream media’, and will be led by a former Fox News journalist. Al Jazeera has had a presence in the US since 2013, albeit a more left-leaning one.
- The i is doing pretty well, and has received some money from DMGT to invest in 20 new journo jobs. Crucially this means a merger between the print and digital teams for the first time.
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