Over the last five years working in journalism I’ve seen publishers crumble at the hands of social media giants. I’ve seen journalists systematically abused by their employers and live through toxic workplace cultures. I’ve seen amazing journalists throw their hands up in the air and leave the business because of the hostility and the shrinking landscape. All while rates of pay are not reflective the rising cost of living.
Obviously these issues are not limited to the journalism industry. Society’s problems have been amplified by the journalism industry because in part that’s the nature of the job -- to amplify. We are all living in polarizing times but at the end of the day the concerns of someone who lives in New York City and works in the media someone who lives in rural Idaho and works on a farm fundamentally have a very similar concern. How am I going to pay to live my life and support those I care about? What are the systems at play that either help or hinder my ability to do that?
As a reporter, I’ve been covering cost of living issues through a social lens—now I want the America In Context Newsletter to do just that. This publication aims to show the cost of living issues define us and can bring us together to solve real issues. Through investigations into abusive industries like the troubled teen industry to salon style talks with the biggest names in business and politics (available to paid subscribers), the hope is to elevate to conversation around cost of living issues.
Our stories focus around connecting the dots through America’s communities and industries— putting America in Context. In addition, we offer enterprising reports, short op-eds, and essays. We also run a weekly podcast called The Coffee Break in conjunction with The Bleav Podcast Network.
Meanwhile, personally I will continue to contribute weekly to the numerous publications I write for like The New York Observer, OZY, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg News, Fortune Magazine, ABC News, Al Jazeera English, CS Monitor, NY Times Syndicate, Nationswell and many other publications. I will continue to produce for networks to amplify these important stories and hold power to account.
Please reach out if you have any thoughts, questions, pitches, fan and/or hate mail andy@andyreports.com