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An illustration of a brown-skinned fem person with shoulder-length black hair holding up a magnifying glass to loosely-sketched outlines of people holding up varying rates. The magnifying glass shows $800. The illustration is on a red background with diagonal stripes made up of $20 bills.

Freelance journalism rates are worse than you think — they’ve barely changed since 2000

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September 28, 2026
It’s not your fault you’re broke. New data from the National Writers Union offers a glimpse into a bleak picture of decades-long wage stagnation in freelance journalism.

The Objective is a nonprofit newsroom examining systems of power and inequity in journalism: how newsrooms treat their employees, how journalists interact with their community, and what new forms of journalism can look like.

A collage of four elements. The background is a photo of confiscated cellphones from incarcerated people. There's also an image of a blurred phone with a red filter over, powered off, a choppy-cropped and lavender-filtered photo of Georgia State Prison, and a screenshot of a headline that reads FCC Takes Aim at Contraband Cellphones in State and Local Prisons
Potential FCC cellphone jamming policy would silence incarcerated journalists
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September 24, 2026
A collage with two screenshots of previous covers of Vida en el Valle and El Nuevo Herald placed over a background of ads from Vida en el Valle.
McClatchy layoffs cause ‘end of an era’ for some Spanish-language papers
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September 17, 2026

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A red duotone filter is layered over a photo of the New York Times office. An X in a gradient with the colors of the trans flag is atop the New York Times sign.
Trans News Network calls New York Times boycott for accurate trans coverage, following boycott from WAWOG
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August 27, 2026
Collage of images. Top left: Photo of San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, a state prison in California, with a yellow filter. Top right: Two screenshots of the text of prison media access bills, AB 1440 and SB 239. The bottom half of the collage features cutouts of profiles of California governors Arnold Schwarznegger, Gavin Newsom, and Jerry Brown. All are white men wearing suits and speaking a podium. There is an article screenshot over each cut-out. The one above Schwarznegger says Governor vetoes prison access bill (October 1, 2004). The one above Newsom says California governor vetoes bill expanding media access to prisons: Governor Newsom expressed concerns over allowing the press unfettered access to inmates, which he said could turn criminals into social media stars. The cutout above Brown says Brown rejects expanding media access to prisons (Oct. 1, 2012 2:26 p.m. PT)
Governor Newsom adds to California’s legacy of stifling prison media access
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August 25, 2026
Collage of photos with two halves and a paper filter layered over. A red map of the U.S. is at the top left of the photo and an audience of Asian journalists of varying ethnicities and genders is at the bottom right corner. A blown-up photo of Donald Trump with a half-tone screen effect edited atop is located at the center of the photo.
U.S. investment in international reporting is shrinking, taking international journalists’ opportunities with it
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August 19, 2026
A statement signed by unionized journalists across USA Today Co. papers and published by the NewsGuild-CWA reads: "We have significant ethical issues with Palantir, whose artificial intelligence (A.I.) software has been used to advance widespread surveillance and power immigration crackdowns." The photo of the statement is layered atop a photo of five Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers, focused on the backs of their vests, walking through a factory.
Hundreds of journalists demand USA Today Co. end Palantir partnership
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August 13, 2026
A collage of items. An Axios headline from March 7, 2026 that reads Majority of major U.S. newsrooms require at least 3 days in office is overlaid over an orange KN95 and image of an air purifier stylized with a halftone effect. Those images are above a photo of an open laptop and notebook.
Despite COVID-19, disabled reporters say disability is still inconsistently prioritized in news
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August 12, 2026
HBCU professors adapt curriculum to guide aspiring Black journalists amid attacks on DEI
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July 23, 2026

What is The Objective?

Despite holding themselves up as “objective” and “impartial” for generations, mainstream American newsrooms have almost always been defined by homogenous teams that fail to account for race, gender, class, disability, and sexuality.

We founded The Objective in June of 2020 as a volunteer collective of journalists concerned with systems of inequity in newsrooms. Our small non-profit newsroom relies on donations to hold journalism institutions accountable and advocate for journalism that’s understanding of power dynamics and the intersections of identity.

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Objective co-directors win the 2026 AAJA Award for Leadership in Diversity & Solidarity
July 9, 2026
Graphic recording of The Objective’s Trans Media Convening panel, Narrative Change in Journalism. Top left section, below heading that says Narrative Change in Journalism: A swiss army knife that says “narrative change.” Many stories combine to form narratives that shape meaning and our realities. Multiple infrastructures work to shift narratives: Organizing, art, documentary. Journalism shapes reality by: telling us what’s happening, starting and expanding conversations (thought bubble that says “What even is gender?”), showing us what’s possible, presenting evidence in context, offering institutional guidance, and showing our power. Top right section: Journalism’s histories: A set of practices & traditions that upholds the status quo & ignores the margins. Omit: Stories about Black folks and everyone on the margins. A news station has a flag that says “myth of objectivity.” Another tradition shines a spotlight on the margins & refuses to look away! A la Ida B. Wells. A portrait of Ida B. Wells is shown. Bottom left section: Where has this brought us? 3 main approaches to coverage: 3D glasses with one pink lens and one blue lens. Cis lens is default and dominant: Nature documentary (behold the wild trans person), clinical (puzzle, not people), and scandalized (e.g. Jerry Springer, Ace Ventura, JK Rowling) & newsrooms (like CBS) are firing trans reporters. Below right section: What is our assignment? Pressure newsrooms, equip individual reporters to fight ‘em, humanize the story, multi-tactical, non-binary — work all the precious points & follow the data. Scoop the newsroom, tell a better story, work with & for each other, be our best resource. Build our own places. “Throw sand in the gears of genocide.” -Rasha Abdulhadi. Keep fighting!
Strategizing about a safer media ecosystem for trans people: The Objective’s first Trans Media Convening
April 13, 2026